Twelve days after a devastating earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, the death toll has risen to 46,000 people and 84,000 buildings have been severely damaged, need urgent demolition, or have collapsed. As Turkey attempts to manage its worst modern disaster, the World Food Programme (WFP) is pressuring authorities in the northwest of Syria to stop blocking access to the area as it seeks to help hundreds of thousands of people affected by the quake.
Rescue attempts are still ongoing, with workers from Kyrgyzstan managing to save a Syrian family of five from the rubble of a building in Antakya city in southern Turkey. Sadly, the child died later from dehydration. An infant born in northern Syria during the earthquake has been reunited with her aunt and uncle, after her parents and siblings perished in the disaster.
The WFP is facing difficulties in its operations in northwestern Syria, with Director David Beasley calling for more border crossings to be opened from Turkey. He said that the agency was running out of supplies and that authorities in the area were not giving them the access they needed.
Public health concerns are growing in the areas where tens of thousands of buildings collapsed, leaving sanitation infrastructure damaged. Turkish health minister Fahrettin Koca has said that although there has been a rise in intestinal and upper respiratory infections, the numbers do not pose a serious threat to public health. Aid organisations have warned that survivors will need help for months to come with so much crucial infrastructure destroyed.
Anger is also mounting among families still waiting to retrieve relatives in Turkey. Many blame corrupt building practices and deeply flawed urban development for the collapse of thousands of homes and businesses. Turkey has promised to investigate anyone suspected of responsibility and has ordered the detention of more than 100 suspects, including developers.