EA week after the devastating earthquake, a woman was found alive 170 hours under rubble in south-eastern Turkey. The rescuers got the 40-year-old out of the ruins of a five-storey house in Gaziantep on Monday morning, as reported by the state broadcaster TRT.
Even if the chances of survival decrease with every hour, the emergency services do not give up hope. In the province of Kahramanmaras, helpers continue to work feverishly. There, a mother with her daughter and an infant is believed to be alive under the rubble. Search dogs had struck, reported the broadcaster CNN Türk.
A week ago early Monday morning, the first 7.7-magnitude tremor shook the region at 2:17 a.m. (CET), followed hours later by a second severe 7.6-magnitude quake. The number of confirmed deaths is now more than 35,000, including at least 5,900 in Syria according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths even expected up to 50,000 deaths on Sunday. Thousands are still missing.
Growing Risk of Disease
In addition, the risk of diseases is growing in the affected regions. “Where people do not have access to clean drinking water, there is a risk of epidemics at some point,” said Thomas Geiner, a doctor with earthquake experience and part of the disaster relief team from the Navis association. “The art of the next few days will be to get help where it is needed.” Given the size of the region, however, it is almost impossible to provide the necessary infrastructure everywhere. The affected areas are larger than Germany.
It is estimated that up to 23 million people have been affected by the severe earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Organizations from Germany are also taking part in the relief measures. Some addresses for monetary donations can be found here:
Here you can donate
Water could be contaminated by the many unrecovered corpses. In many places, people also do not have access to any type of toilet. This could also cause germs to get into the groundwater. Geiner said the situation on the ground reminded him of what happened in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. The region saw every injury imaginable. It needs all possible help. The health infrastructure is badly damaged.
Arrests in southern Turkey
At least 14 people have been arrested on alleged negligence after the building collapses in southern Turkey. An arrest warrant had also been issued for 33 people in the city of Diyarbakir, the state news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday, citing prosecutors. They should be responsible for any structural damage that favored the collapse of the building, such as the removal of concrete pillars.
One of the suspects was reportedly arrested at Istanbul Airport. He is said to have tried to flee to Montenegro with cash. Nine other suspects were arrested in the cities of Sanliurfa and Osmaniye.
At least 48 people were arrested by the Turkish authorities for alleged looting. In Hatay province alone, 42 suspects were arrested with large sums of money, jewellery, bank cards, computers, mobile phones and weapons, the official Turkish news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday, citing security officials.