The death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquake reached 24,000 as rescuers continued to work around the clock to find survivors. In Turkey, the number of fatalities has risen to 20,665, the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) has said. It said that nearly 93,000 victims have been evacuated from the quake zone in southern Turkey and that more than 166,000 personnel were involved in the rescue and relief efforts. Meanwhile in Syria, more than 3,500 people have been reported dead.

At least 870,000 people urgently needed food in the two countries after the quake, which has made up to 5.3 million people homeless in Syria alone, the UN warned. Indonesian search and rescue teams join international efforts in Turkey. Search and rescue teams from Indonesia have departed for Turkey to assist with the international aid effort following this week’s deadly earthquakes.

Two military aircraft with more than 50 staff and 24 tonnes of aid were dispatched from the Halim Perdanakusuma air force base in Jakarta on Saturday. “Our task in this first batch is attached to the SAR (search and rescue) team or the response agency in Turkey, this team will get SAR assignments around the Hatay area to search for victims in collapsed buildings,” Bambang Suryaputra, an official with Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management, said before departure.

Indonesian Search and Rescue personnel prepare for a deployment to assist relief works in Turkey and Syria where a deadly earthquake killed thousands, at the Halim Perdanakusuma airbase in Jakarta, Indonesia, February 11, 2023. Cuba is sending healthcare workers to Turkey and Syria, joining a growing international effort to provide rescue and medical aid after this week’s devastating earthquakes. Cuban authorities in Havana said on Friday evening that 32 medics were set to depart for Turkey, Reuters reported.

Earlier in the week, Syrian ambassador Ghassan Obeid told Cuban state-run media that 27 Cuban medics would be headed to Syria to provide support to victims of earthquakes. Cuba regularly sends its “armies of white coats” to disaster sites and disease outbreaks around the world since. Cuban doctors were on the front lines in the fight against cholera in Haiti and against Ebola in West Africa in the 2010s. An image of late revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara is displayed during a farewell ceremony of Cuban doctors heading to Turkey to assist in earthquake relief, in Havana, Cuba, February 10, 2023.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP