Ismail Abdullah has been a rescue volunteer with the White Helmets in Syria for 10 years He is experienced in pulling people out of bombed buildings, but he said the devastation wrought by Monday’s earthquake was “more difficult than any bombing”
trapped under the rubble
Mr Abdullah said the death toll in north-west Syria is now 1,400 with 3,000 injured – most of whom have been saved by the White Helmets. He feared the death toll could rise to 5,000. Ismail Abdullah, a volunteer with the White Helmets, is helping with search and rescue efforts in north-west Syria following the devastating earthquake on Monday
Although the epicentre of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake was in neighbouring Turkey, the rescue and relief efforts have proved much harder over the border in north-west Syria, where the destruction has been compounded by infrastructure that has beenInternational rescue teams have been dispatched to Turkey, but in north-west Syria the White Helmets are the only team able to carry out search and rescue – and the scale of the devastation is far beyond their capacity.
Most aid into Syria goes through the capital, Damascus, which is in government-held territory and therefore all aid to opposition areas in the north is tightly controlled by the Assad regime. International organisations are calling for“A few minutes ago there were Russian war planes in the sky,” Mr Abdullah said. “We are expecting the worst – and then the worst.”
There have also been frequent, strong aftershocks which could cause further damage to already unstable buildings.should send help. We need help to enable us to get to those that are trapped and don’t have much time left, to get them to safety,” Mr Abdullah said.
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