Rescuers race to find Turkey-Syria quake survivors, toll tops 21,000

BAB CROSSING, AFP: Rescuers scoured debris in a desperate search for survivors on Friday, four days after a massive earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, killing nearly 22,000 people, as the United States offered an $ 85 million aid package.

Officials and medics said 18,342 people had died in Turkey and 3,377 in Syria from Monday’s tremor, bringing the confirmed total to 21,719. Experts fear the number will continue to rise sharply.

The first UN aid deliveries arrived on Thursday in Syrian rebel-held zones, but chances of finding survivors have dimmed since the passing of the three-day mark that experts consider a critical period to save lives.

The US Agency for International Development said its aid package will go to partners on the ground “to deliver urgently needed aid for millions of people”, including through food, shelter and emergency health services. It will also support safe drinking water and sanitation to prevent the outbreak of disease, USAID said in a statement.

Bitter cold hampered search efforts in both countries, but more than 80 hours after the disaster struck, 16-year-old Melda Adtas was found alive in the southern Turkish city of Antakya. Her overjoyed father was in tears and the grieving nation cheered an agonisingly rare piece of good news.

The 7.8-magnitude quake struck early Monday as people slept, in a region where many had already suffered loss and displacement due to Syria’s civil war.

Top aid officials were planning to visit affected areas with World Health Organisation Head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UN Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths both announcing trips.

Red Cross International Committee President Mirjana Spoljaric, travelled to strife-torn Aleppo, Syria.