In the earthquake zone of Turkey, you can see a lot of rescue activities organized by volunteers, but time is against the helpers.
‘s foreign editor Tom Kankkonen is currently in Turkey, where the rescue work continues desperately after the earthquakes of the beginning of the week. At least 11,700 people have been killed in the earthquakes, the effects of which were felt in both Turkey and Syria.
Kankkonen has today visited a port city called İskenderun, about 200 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake in Gaziantep.
Kankkonen says that there is a lot of different equipment on site in İskenderun, such as cranes from construction companies, which help with clearing. People seem to have organized help to the place themselves.
– People there still hope that those trapped in the ruins will be found alive, says Kankkonen.
– We watched how a young man was lifted from the ruins today. An ambulance was called to the scene, but the rescued person’s journey continued in a pick-up truck.
Many of the hospitals in the earthquake area have been damaged, so people are transported to cities that have escaped the destruction for treatment.
Dissatisfaction with slow rescue operations
According to Kankkonen, many of the locals he has talked to have been dissatisfied with the slowness of the rescue efforts. Some have said that the first Helpers have only arrived today, Wednesday, two days after the earthquakes.
– The general image people have is that help would have arrived slowly, Kankkonen sums up.
According to Kankkonen, people’s pain is great. People have been stuck in the ruins and time is currently the worst enemy of rescue operations.
Kankkonen says he heard an estimate that the critical limit for rescuing people from the ruins would pass at three days. It’s coming soon, as the first of the earthquakes happened early Monday morning.