The world is still in shock learning about the devastation the earthquakes caused in Turkiye and Syria. The death toll has now gone above 7,800. In the freezing weather, rescuers are still looking for any flicker of hope under the debris as they painstakingly remove one slab after another looking for missing people who were trapped inside when it all came crashing down. The 7.8 earthquake and the aftershocks sowed so much destruction that families are torn apart, and houses and livelihoods were lost forever.
The death toll is still climbing, it is not known how many are still stuck inside those collapsed buildings, as the whole world scrambled to provide help by assisting in the search operation and also by sending needed supplies. Some of the affected areas were already suffering before the quake from years of violence due to the war and political unrest. The icy winter weather just made the whole situation even worse.
Qatar has already extended its helping hand to the affected people by sending much-needed supplies through the Qatar Emiri Air Force air bridge, which was set up on the directives of the Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Qatar Red Crescent Society said that the emer-gency relief shipment sent yesterday contains 35 tonnes of aid, which includes heavy blankets, light blankets, jer-rycans, mosquito nets, tarpaulins, shelter maintenance kits and family hygiene kits. This was done in cooperation with Qatar Fund for Development.
Qatar has already dispatched rescue workers to Turkey, alongside field hospital, relief aid, tents and winter sup-plies. This is in addition to the 10,000 mobile homes Doha has allocated to the affected areas. In an unfortunate turn of events, four QRCS personnel from its mission in Turkey, who were operating in Syria, lost their lives in the deadly earthquake.
Many countries have started sending personnel and relief to assist the people, but going by the amount of dev-astation, it will need a combined effort of the international community to help the survivors bounce back into life. Meanwhile, the most urgent task will be to find every single person trapped in the concrete debris and help them reach safety. This is a big task as time is running out and the weather is not helping, but rescuers are working tirelessly round the clock with lots of hopes and prayers in their minds.
QRCS has launched a $10 million fundraising cam-paign to provide more humanitarian aid and many busi-nesses have already started contributing. With more indi-viduals stepping up to help, hopefully, we should be able to raise much more. And every penny count during times like these.
