In response to a fatal 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria, IFRC has launched an emergency appeal for CHF 70 million, a press release reveals.
Needs are increasing minute by minute, thus the Turkish Red Crescent and Syrian Arab Red Crescent promptly organized to serve affected people. The hardest devastated regions where people are still buried under rubble have been reached by rescue personnel.
Teams from the Turkish Red Crescent were sent to the country’s ten worst-hit areas in the south and southeast with food supplies and basic humanitarian supplies like tents and blankets to help the injured and evacuated. Additionally, their teams are sending their national supply of blood and plasma, as well as hot meals and psychological support, to the afflicted areas.
Since early in the morning, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent has responded on the ground in Syria, assisting with search and rescue efforts, rendering first aid, carrying out emergency medical evacuations, and bringing injured individuals to hospitals. In the midst of precarious living situations and extremely severe weather, many buildings collapsed.
The vulnerabilities combined with the severe winter weather, according to Xavier Castellanos, the IFRC Under Secretary General for National Society Development and Operations Coordination, make it intolerable for many. In a conflict that has lasted ten years, the already precarious living conditions, notably in Syria, are strained even further. We must help those who lost their homes and loved ones. We must get together and make every effort to assist.
In the coming weeks and months of recovery, there has to be greater international cooperation and solidarity to offer humanitarian aid. Two international appeals will be made by the IFRC: one for CHF 20 million to aid Syrians through the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and another for CHF 50 million to aid Turks through the Turkish Red Crescent.
