The death toll from the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday exceeded 28,000, while people were miraculously rescued on Saturday, amid continuous searches, and cemeteries were built in light of a difficult security situation and very cold weather.
On Saturday, in Turkey, at least 48 people were arrested on suspicion of looting in eight provinces affected by the earthquake, according to the official Anadolu news agency.
More arrests are expected, as Turkish Vice President Fuad Aktay announced on Saturday that 113 arrest warrants had been issued.
Paramedics are making strenuous efforts to pull survivors from under the rubble of buildings, including children, five days after the disaster.
Simultaneously, the Austrian army suspended rescue operations in Turkey on Saturday morning, citing the 'security situation' at the site.
'There have been attacks between groups,' a spokesman in Vienna told AFP, without giving further details.
He explained that 82 Austrian soldiers had taken shelter in a base in Hatay province, 'with other international organizations, awaiting instructions.'
In the afternoon, the same source confirmed that two Austrians were able to resume the search with dogs 'with the protection of the Turkish army.'
The Turkish embassy in Vienna said, 'The Austrian team does not currently suffer from security problems.'
In Germany, a spokesman for the German branch of the non-governmental organization I.S.A.R. Stefan Hein told France Press on Saturday that the organization and the Federal Authority for Technical Relief 'has stopped rescue operations in Turkey.'
'In recent hours, the security situation seems to have changed in Hatay province. More reports are coming of clashes between different groups, in addition to the occurrence of gunfire,' he added.
'I am overwhelmed with sadness'
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, arrived Saturday in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which was severely affected by the earthquake.
'I am saddened to witness the conditions of the survivors,' he said on Twitter, describing the cold weather and very limited access to shelter, food, water and medical care.
Accompanied by the Minister of Health, Ghebreyesus toured the affected neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo. He also visited a hospital and a shelter, according to an AFP correspondent.
According to the latest official reports Saturday, the 7.8-magnitude earthquake has killed more than 28,000 people. So far, the official death toll in Turkey has reached 24,617 people, while the authorities in Syria have announced that the death toll has reached 3,574.
And the World Health Organization announced on Saturday that the number of people affected by the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria this week has reached about 26 million people.
Humanitarian organizations have expressed their concern about the spread of the cholera epidemic, which has re-emerged in Syria.
On Friday, the Syrian government agreed to deliver humanitarian aid to areas outside its control in the north of the country, about five days after the devastating earthquake, according to the official Syrian Media Agency (SANA).
The earthquake displaced up to 5.3 million people in Syria alone, the United Nations warned.
On Saturday, a crossing between Armenia and Turkey was opened for the first time in 35 years, in order to allow the passage of humanitarian aid after the earthquake that struck the region, according to the official Turkish Anadolu Agency on Saturday.
The agency stated that five trucks loaded with aid for earthquake victims crossed the Alikan crossing in Igdir province.
'Is the world here?'
In Turkey, a two-year-old girl named Asia was rescued in Hatay province (south), according to Turkish media, but her family was not found.
Rescue crews pulled a 70-year-old woman, Meneksi Tabak, from the rubble in the Turkish province of Kahramanmaraş, amid shouts of 'God is great,' according to a video clip broadcast by the public broadcaster TRT Haber. When she came out into the light, the woman asked, 'Is the world here?'
And Anatolia News Agency confirmed that rescue teams pulled out Ozlem Yilmaz (35 years) and her daughter Khadija (6 years) and they were alive from under the rubble of a building 117 hours after the earthquake in Adi Yaman province, southeast of the country.
And a German non-governmental organization announced the death of a 40-year-old woman from her injuries, after she was rescued by a German relief team in Kerekhan (southern Turkey) on Friday, after spending more than 100 hours under the rubble.
In southern Turkey, car parks, playgrounds and gyms have been turned into mortuaries, as afflicted families search for missing relatives.
'God help me find her,' said Tuba Yolcu anxiously, as she searched for her missing aunt among the bodies in a sports complex in Kahramanmaraş.
The government agency for natural disaster management confirmed the participation of about 32,000 people in search and rescue operations, in addition to more than 8,000 foreign paramedics. More than 25,000 Turkish soldiers are also deployed in the affected areas, according to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.
Arrests
On Saturday, about 12 contractors were arrested in Turkey after thousands of buildings collapsed in the southeast of the country as a result of the earthquake, and among those arrested was a contractor in Gaziantep province and 11 in Sanliurfa province.
The collapse of the buildings, which reveals that they were poorly constructed, is causing outrage in the country.
International humanitarian aid flows to Turkey, but access to Syria is more complicated as the country is at war and its regime is subject to international sanctions.
Humanitarian aid destined for northwestern Syria is usually transported from Turkey through Bab al-Hawa, the only crossing point guaranteed by a Security Council resolution on cross-border aid. However, the roads leading to the crossing were damaged by the earthquake, which temporarily affected the ability of the United Nations to use it.
And after the Syrian city of Jableh in Lattakia Governorate remained for years untouched by war and battles, the government declared the city a disaster area, like other areas affected by the earthquake.
'It is the first time that a mountain of such a calamity has been witnessed,' al-Najjar Abd al-Hadi al-Aji told AFP. 'I am 52 years old, and I have never seen anything similar.' 'It is an indescribable horror,' said Al-Aji, a father of four who now lives in a broken house.
In Damascus, on Saturday afternoon, the Ministry of Information invited journalists to Mo
The death toll from the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday exceeded 28,000, while people were miraculously rescued on Saturday, amid continuous searches, and cemeteries were built in light of a difficult security situation and very cold weather.
On Saturday, in Turkey, at least 48 people were arrested on suspicion of looting in eight provinces affected by the earthquake, according to the official Anadolu news agency.
More arrests are expected, as Turkish Vice President Fuad Aktay announced on Saturday that 113 arrest warrants had been issued.
Paramedics are making strenuous efforts to pull survivors from under the rubble of buildings, including children, five days after the disaster.
Simultaneously, the Austrian army suspended rescue operations in Turkey on Saturday morning, citing the 'security situation' at the site.
'There have been attacks between groups,' a spokesman in Vienna told AFP, without giving further details.
He explained that 82 Austrian soldiers had taken shelter in a base in Hatay province, 'with other international organizations, awaiting instructions.'
In the afternoon, the same source confirmed that two Austrians were able to resume the search with dogs 'with the protection of the Turkish army.'
The Turkish embassy in Vienna said, 'The Austrian team does not currently suffer from security problems.'
In Germany, a spokesman for the German branch of the non-governmental organization I.S.A.R. Stefan Hein told France Press on Saturday that the organization and the Federal Authority for Technical Relief 'has stopped rescue operations in Turkey.'
'In recent hours, the security situation seems to have changed in Hatay province. More reports are coming of clashes between different groups, in addition to the occurrence of gunfire,' he added.
'I am overwhelmed with sadness'
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, arrived Saturday in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which was severely affected by the earthquake.
'I am saddened to witness the conditions of the survivors,' he said on Twitter, describing the cold weather and very limited access to shelter, food, water and medical care.
Accompanied by the Minister of Health, Ghebreyesus toured the affected neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo. He also visited a hospital and a shelter, according to an AFP correspondent.
According to the latest official reports Saturday, the 7.8-magnitude earthquake has killed more than 28,000 people. So far, the official death toll in Turkey has reached 24,617 people, while the authorities in Syria have announced that the death toll has reached 3,574.
And the World Health Organization announced on Saturday that the number of people affected by the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria this week has reached about 26 million people.
Humanitarian organizations have expressed their concern about the spread of the cholera epidemic, which has re-emerged in Syria.
On Friday, the Syrian government agreed to deliver humanitarian aid to areas outside its control in the north of the country, about five days after the devastating earthquake, according to the official Syrian Media Agency (SANA).
The earthquake displaced up to 5.3 million people in Syria alone, the United Nations warned.
On Saturday, a crossing between Armenia and Turkey was opened for the first time in 35 years, in order to allow the passage of humanitarian aid after the earthquake that struck the region, according to the official Turkish Anadolu Agency on Saturday.
The agency stated that five trucks loaded with aid for earthquake victims crossed the Alikan crossing in Igdir province.
'Is the world here?'
In Turkey, a two-year-old girl named Asia was rescued in Hatay province (south), according to Turkish media, but her family was not found.
Rescue crews pulled a 70-year-old woman, Meneksi Tabak, from the rubble in the Turkish province of Kahramanmaraş, amid shouts of 'God is great,' according to a video clip broadcast by the public broadcaster TRT Haber. When she came out into the light, the woman asked, 'Is the world here?'
And Anatolia News Agency confirmed that rescue teams pulled out Ozlem Yilmaz (35 years) and her daughter Khadija (6 years) and they were alive from under the rubble of a building 117 hours after the earthquake in Adi Yaman province, southeast of the country.
And a German non-governmental organization announced the death of a 40-year-old woman from her injuries, after she was rescued by a German relief team in Kerekhan (southern Turkey) on Friday, after spending more than 100 hours under the rubble.
In southern Turkey, car parks, playgrounds and gyms have been turned into mortuaries, as afflicted families search for missing relatives.
'God help me find her,' said Tuba Yolcu anxiously, as she searched for her missing aunt among the bodies in a sports complex in Kahramanmaraş.
The government agency for natural disaster management confirmed the participation of about 32,000 people in search and rescue operations, in addition to more than 8,000 foreign paramedics. More than 25,000 Turkish soldiers are also deployed in the affected areas, according to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.
Arrests
On Saturday, about 12 contractors were arrested in Turkey after thousands of buildings collapsed in the southeast of the country as a result of the earthquake, and among those arrested was a contractor in Gaziantep province and 11 in Sanliurfa province.
The collapse of the buildings, which reveals that they were poorly constructed, is causing outrage in the country.
International humanitarian aid flows to Turkey, but access to Syria is more complicated as the country is at war and its regime is subject to international sanctions.
Humanitarian aid destined for northwestern Syria is usually transported from Turkey through Bab al-Hawa, the only crossing point guaranteed by a Security Council resolution on cross-border aid. However, the roads leading to the crossing were damaged by the earthquake, which temporarily affected the ability of the United Nations to use it.
And after the Syrian city of Jableh in Lattakia Governorate remained for years untouched by war and battles, the government declared the city a disaster area, like other areas affected by the earthquake.
'It is the first time that a mountain of such a calamity has been witnessed,' al-Najjar Abd al-Hadi al-Aji told AFP. 'I am 52 years old, and I have never seen anything similar.' 'It is an indescribable horror,' said Al-Aji, a father of four who now lives in a broken house.
In Damascus, on Saturday afternoon, the Ministry of Information invited journalists to Mo
The death toll from the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday exceeded 28,000, while people were miraculously rescued on Saturday, amid continuous searches, and cemeteries were built in light of a difficult security situation and very cold weather.
On Saturday, in Turkey, at least 48 people were arrested on suspicion of looting in eight provinces affected by the earthquake, according to the official Anadolu news agency.
More arrests are expected, as Turkish Vice President Fuad Aktay announced on Saturday that 113 arrest warrants had been issued.
Paramedics are making strenuous efforts to pull survivors from under the rubble of buildings, including children, five days after the disaster.
Simultaneously, the Austrian army suspended rescue operations in Turkey on Saturday morning, citing the 'security situation' at the site.
'There have been attacks between groups,' a spokesman in Vienna told AFP, without giving further details.
He explained that 82 Austrian soldiers had taken shelter in a base in Hatay province, 'with other international organizations, awaiting instructions.'
In the afternoon, the same source confirmed that two Austrians were able to resume the search with dogs 'with the protection of the Turkish army.'
The Turkish embassy in Vienna said, 'The Austrian team does not currently suffer from security problems.'
In Germany, a spokesman for the German branch of the non-governmental organization I.S.A.R. Stefan Hein told France Press on Saturday that the organization and the Federal Authority for Technical Relief 'has stopped rescue operations in Turkey.'
'In recent hours, the security situation seems to have changed in Hatay province. More reports are coming of clashes between different groups, in addition to the occurrence of gunfire,' he added.
'I am overwhelmed with sadness'
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, arrived Saturday in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which was severely affected by the earthquake.
'I am saddened to witness the conditions of the survivors,' he said on Twitter, describing the cold weather and very limited access to shelter, food, water and medical care.
Accompanied by the Minister of Health, Ghebreyesus toured the affected neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo. He also visited a hospital and a shelter, according to an AFP correspondent.
According to the latest official reports Saturday, the 7.8-magnitude earthquake has killed more than 28,000 people. So far, the official death toll in Turkey has reached 24,617 people, while the authorities in Syria have announced that the death toll has reached 3,574.
And the World Health Organization announced on Saturday that the number of people affected by the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria this week has reached about 26 million people.
Humanitarian organizations have expressed their concern about the spread of the cholera epidemic, which has re-emerged in Syria.
On Friday, the Syrian government agreed to deliver humanitarian aid to areas outside its control in the north of the country, about five days after the devastating earthquake, according to the official Syrian Media Agency (SANA).
The earthquake displaced up to 5.3 million people in Syria alone, the United Nations warned.
On Saturday, a crossing between Armenia and Turkey was opened for the first time in 35 years, in order to allow the passage of humanitarian aid after the earthquake that struck the region, according to the official Turkish Anadolu Agency on Saturday.
The agency stated that five trucks loaded with aid for earthquake victims crossed the Alikan crossing in Igdir province.
'Is the world here?'
In Turkey, a two-year-old girl named Asia was rescued in Hatay province (south), according to Turkish media, but her family was not found.
Rescue crews pulled a 70-year-old woman, Meneksi Tabak, from the rubble in the Turkish province of Kahramanmaraş, amid shouts of 'God is great,' according to a video clip broadcast by the public broadcaster TRT Haber. When she came out into the light, the woman asked, 'Is the world here?'
And Anatolia News Agency confirmed that rescue teams pulled out Ozlem Yilmaz (35 years) and her daughter Khadija (6 years) and they were alive from under the rubble of a building 117 hours after the earthquake in Adi Yaman province, southeast of the country.
And a German non-governmental organization announced the death of a 40-year-old woman from her injuries, after she was rescued by a German relief team in Kerekhan (southern Turkey) on Friday, after spending more than 100 hours under the rubble.
In southern Turkey, car parks, playgrounds and gyms have been turned into mortuaries, as afflicted families search for missing relatives.
'God help me find her,' said Tuba Yolcu anxiously, as she searched for her missing aunt among the bodies in a sports complex in Kahramanmaraş.
The government agency for natural disaster management confirmed the participation of about 32,000 people in search and rescue operations, in addition to more than 8,000 foreign paramedics. More than 25,000 Turkish soldiers are also deployed in the affected areas, according to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.
Arrests
On Saturday, about 12 contractors were arrested in Turkey after thousands of buildings collapsed in the southeast of the country as a result of the earthquake, and among those arrested was a contractor in Gaziantep province and 11 in Sanliurfa province.
The collapse of the buildings, which reveals that they were poorly constructed, is causing outrage in the country.
International humanitarian aid flows to Turkey, but access to Syria is more complicated as the country is at war and its regime is subject to international sanctions.
Humanitarian aid destined for northwestern Syria is usually transported from Turkey through Bab al-Hawa, the only crossing point guaranteed by a Security Council resolution on cross-border aid. However, the roads leading to the crossing were damaged by the earthquake, which temporarily affected the ability of the United Nations to use it.
And after the Syrian city of Jableh in Lattakia Governorate remained for years untouched by war and battles, the government declared the city a disaster area, like other areas affected by the earthquake.
'It is the first time that a mountain of such a calamity has been witnessed,' al-Najjar Abd al-Hadi al-Aji told AFP. 'I am 52 years old, and I have never seen anything similar.' 'It is an indescribable horror,' said Al-Aji, a father of four who now lives in a broken house.
In Damascus, on Saturday afternoon, the Ministry of Information invited journalists to Mo
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More than 28,000 deaths in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and the creation of cemeteries in light of "security chaos"
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