Durban - Search-and-rescue members from South Africa were being pulled aside on the streets in Antakya, Türkiye, by survivors desperate to find their loved ones buried in the rubble after devastating earthquakes and tremors.
The 27-member team arrived on Thursday in Antakya, one of the hardest-hit cities that has been mostly destroyed by a massive 7.8 quake and aftershocks that struck on Monday.
Southern Türkiye and western Syria were hit by what has been described as the most powerful earthquake in a century in this region. Medi Response’s Paul Herbst in Antakya, who travelled with a team from humanitarian and disaster relief organisation Gift of the Givers, spoke to the Sunday Tribune yesterday. He described the conditions as atrocious and extremely cold.
“It is catastrophic. There’s so much death here. Photos and videos cannot explain or describe the damage and devastation. We were told that 2 000 to 3500 buildings were destroyed and we’ve only managed to search 4% of that total. “The Turkish guys said after the last earthquake, they found people alive 18 days later. But the problem we are having is the severe cold which makes hyperthermia a problem,” said Herbst.
He said while walking the streets they were assigned to, survivors would pull them aside. “Mothers screaming and crying. Everywhere people are mourning. Nine-storey high-rises now look like one-storey buildings,” he said. Herbst said they set up camp at a stadium with multiple international rescue organisations from Korea, China, Britain and Germany.
"The guys have been working trying to retrieve live victims, but unfortunately we haven’t recovered any live victims, only deceased ones. “The guys are working shifts to ensure they don’t leave the site,” he said. Gift of the Givers joined forces with the K9 unit of the SAPS that sent a team of handlers and four canines who joined the rescue efforts on Friday
SUNDAY TRIBUNE