The search for survivors in Turkey is complicated not only by the hours that elapsed after the earthquake that occurred in the early hours of Monday, but also because in the province of Hatay clashes between different armed groups have begun that endanger the safety of rescue teams.
That is why the Army of Austria has announced that it suspends its operations in the area after, as Colonel Pierre Kugelweis explained, “aggression between factions in Turkey is increasing” and they have been informed that there are even shootings.
It should be noted that Hatay, which is where they are working, is the province most affected by the earthquake in Turkey. It is a border area with northwestern Syria, where some 900 people have died and more than 1,200 buildings have ended up being destroyed, according to the Turkish authorities. An area where some 400,000 Syrian refugees who have fled the war in their country also reside.
At the moment the Army has not identified the groups responsible for the attacks, although this province is occasional scene of clashes between the Turkish Army and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party(PKK), an organization considered a terrorist by Spain and the European Union, which has been facing Ankara for decades.
The truth is the attacks have not been directed against the rescue mission but “the success of saving lives bears no reasonable relationship to the security risks”, in the words of the Austrian colonel who leads a team of 82 military rescuers.
In fact, Turkish media denounce that security problems have increased in the country where some twenty looters have already been arrested and roadblocks have been denounced to attack trucks with humanitarian material.
Spain with no return date
Precisely this lack of security is what is preventing international rescue teams from reaching Syria.
A situation that the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, lamented, who in statements to RTVE’s 24-hour channel, praised their work and confirmed that our soldiers from the Military Emergency Unit continue to work tirelessly and They still do not have a return date to Spain.
Robles has also explained that it is “the Turkish authorities who are in charge of the total organization” of the rescue operations and they are doing it “in stages”. Its objective these first days, says the head of Spanish Defense, is “the evacuation and rescue of people who may be buried in the rubble at this moment.”
The proof is that miracles continue to happen and in the early hours of Saturday the troops of the UME displaced to Turkey They have managed to rescue two other women who were still trapped under the rubble 122 hours after the earthquake, while the Spanish Marines have also participated in the rescue of another living child that they have managed to get out of the rubble.
More than 24,500 fatalities
in front of the rescues the number of victims continues to rise which already rises above 24,500 people.
According to the latest official balance offered this Saturday, at least 21,043 of them have died on Turkish soil, while more than 80,000 have been injured, while in Syria the victims amount to 3,553 and the number of people injured is 5,276.
The Turkish agency for disaster management, AFAD, has also reported that more than 90,000 people have been evacuated from the ten Turkish provinces affected by the earthquake on Monday, while on the ground they work more than 166,000 rescue teams and volunteersincluding some 8,000 foreign rescue specialists.