I’m Samar, originally from Eastern Ghouta, and I work for Doctors Without Borders overseeing health promotion in northwestern Syria. When the earthquake happened I was at home in Azaz. We live on the second floor of a building. I was with my whole family: my son, my daughter and my husband. We were sleeping. When my husband felt the tremor, he woke me up. I took my daughter in my arms and my husband my son. We ran out of the house in our pajamas, barefoot and terrified.
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It seemed like doomsday. People were running in droves and crowding together. It was like the doomsday scene. We could not feel anything other than fear and terror. They gave us chills in the cold and rain. I saw my children tremble. We did not know what to do. Move away from the buildings or go to open spaces?
We had to make sure our family members were safe, but our building was collapsing and swaying before us. People were going out into the streets and taking their cars away from the buildings towards open spaces. The buildings trembled and the balconies fell on the cars, destroying them.
The buildings trembled and the balconies fell on the cars, destroying them.
The scene was horrible: people were running with their children in their arms to get away from the buildings… Then we realized we had the car and my husband went looking for it as soon as the tremors subsided to take shelter from the rain. He also brought coats for the kids and us.
We drive away and wait. We hear aftershocks until dawn.
Then my family called me from Damascus asking if something had happened to us. My uncle’s family had passed away. Later, they asked me about my husband’s family. Imagine… my family was far from the earthquake zone and they knew before we did that my uncle’s family had passed away. Internet connection and electricity were cut off. We could barely use the networks to find out how our acquaintances were doing. We didn’t find out until nine in the morning, when we confirmed that some of my relatives had died.
I told my husband that we had to go to Jindires, the most affected area together with the Atarib areas and the outskirts of Idlib. I told him that we had to go there because many people had died and all the people from my town live there. We went to Jindires and what we found was horrible. All the buildings were collapsed. No buildings were spared from the outskirts of the city. People were under the rubble. All dead. Witnessing this horror, it was impossible to think that anyone would make it out of the buildings.
We went to my uncle’s house. We could barely make it due to the debris. My nephew’s daughter, his sister, sisters-in-law and her relatives had passed away. Those who survived were shocked and did not understand what was happening. A mother lost consciousness after losing her daughter. She lost her mind.
We took the car and went to a tented area where there were people we knew. We sat in a tent in heavy rain and mud, but we and our children had to be safe. Many parents were burying their children. Others were under the rubble. No family had been spared. All had lost one or more loved ones. It took a long time to get people out. There were few machines. We only saw particular efforts and initiatives.
My husband rushed to help the civil defense to get people out from under the rubble. He goes there every day. Our friends are also helping. The sanitary team [de MSF] that I supervise is also helping out in Jindires. Everyone has family there. And even if they don’t have them, they will help too because no one else is helping to remove the rubble.
We returned at two in the morning from Jindires to Afrin, where we stayed at a relative’s house on the ground floor. And we continue there. My husband goes to Jindires every day and I stay here. We plan to return to Azaz. We don’t know what exactly will happen.
I was unable to participate in the Doctors Without Borders emergency meetings because I had no internet connection. When I logged in, I saw the messages that were coming to me. My team coordinated with the logistics team to distribute tents and clothing. They prepared them and went to Jindires to distribute them.
I can’t assimilate what happened. I feel the catastrophe continues
They decided to distribute the kits of essential materials we had to the people of Jindires. They worked late into the night. I’m still in shock. I can’t assimilate what happened. I feel that the catastrophe continues. I dare not go home. My husband tries to convince me because many people have already returned, but I don’t dare.
Yesterday we went to the hospital. All the relatives of a friend of my husband died except one girl. We went to visit her at the hospital. She told us how they met in one place. She headed for the door with her brother. Her little sister followed them. She told me how the roof fell on top of her father, killing him; and that he said a few last words before he died. “When the debris fell, my sister fell under me. She suffocated because of me, ”she told us crying.
Everything is missing. The only thing that worries now is saving the people who are still under the rubble. Excavators and heavy machinery are desperately needed to save the people otherwise it will not be possible.
It is very cold and it rains. People have lost their money and cannot buy clothes or heaters. Nor does he find shelter. Houses have been destroyed and families have moved to mosques, schools… There are organizations working on the ground, but the needs are enormous. There has to be a large-scale intervention. Most of the efforts that are made are local and individual. I only saw Doctors Without Borders distributing kits. I don’t know if other international organizations also work in the region.
I hope that the response will intensify and that people from under the rubble will continue to be rescued. Also bury the dead. You have to do everything you can, because the area is completely destroyed.
*The full name is not published for security reasons.