Govt pledges aid after deadly earthquake hits Turkey, Syria

Frantic rescue efforts to locate survivors

The Thai government is offering to send assistance and a team to help with search and rescue efforts after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and its neighbour Syria.

As of press time, the death toll from the devastating earthquake had risen past 5,000, but the number was expected to climb further as rescue workers continued to dig through the rubble in search of survivors.

The massive earthquake, one of the largest to strike the quake-prone area in the past century, is raising fears of a new humanitarian crisis in a region strained by years of war, displacement and economic hardship.

Kanchana Patarachoke, foreign ministry spokeswoman and director-general of the Department of Information, said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has offered his condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai has also spoken to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on the matter.

Gen Prayut said he was ready to provide aid based on humanitarian principles and urged the Foreign Ministry to cooperate with Turkey to send a rescue team should Ankara need one.

Ms Kanchana said as of yesterday, authorities have yet to receive reports of deaths and/or injuries among Thai citizens in the area, some of whom have relocated to temporary shelters.

Mr Don said the Royal Thai Embassy in Ankara has received a report about damages to a property owned by a Thai citizen, while three others have been safely located at a shelter away from the capital.

He urged Thais who were affected by the disaster to seek the embassy’s assistance.

The Ministry of Labour said 83 Thais are working in the country. Most are working as masseurs and chefs, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said.

GAZIANTEP: Rescuers in Turkey and Syria braved frigid weather, aftershocks and collapsing buildings yesterday, as they dug for survivors buried by an earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people.

Disaster agencies said several thousand buildings were flattened in cities across a vast border region — pouring misery on an area already plagued by war, insurgency, refugee crises and a recent cholera outbreak.

Through the night, survivors used their bare hands to pick over the twisted ruins of multi-storey apartment blocks — trying to save family, friends and anyone else sleeping inside when the first massive 7.8-magnitude quake struck early on Monday.

“Where is my mum?” asked a distraught seven-year-old girl who was pulled — her face, hair and pyjamas covered in dust — from a collapsed building in Hatay, on the Turkish side of the border.

The sense of disbelief was widespread, as residents struggled to comprehend the scale of the disaster.

Some of the heaviest devastation occurred near the quake’s epicentre between Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, a city of two million where entire blocks now lie in ruins under gathering snow.

As residents tried to clear a mountain of masonry, plasterboard and furniture that had been a multi-story building, another collapsed nearby — sending crowds screaming and clamouring for safety.

With aftershocks rattling the area, many terrified and exhausted survivors spent the night outdoors, too afraid to go home.

Some huddled under bus shelters, some wrapped themselves in plastic to repel the freezing rain and others burned debris to keep warm.

Mustafa Koyuncu packed his wife and their five children into their parked car.

“We can’t go home,” the 55-year-old said. “Everyone is afraid.”

Turkey put the latest death toll at 3,419 in that country alone — bringing the confirmed tally in both Turkey and Syria to 5,021.

There are fears that the toll will rise inexorably, with World Health Organization officials estimating up to 20,000 may have died.

“There is a family I know under the rubble,” said 20-year-old student Omer El Cuneyd in the Turkish city of Sanliurfa.

“Until 11am or noon, my friend was still answering the phone. But she no longer answers. She is down there.”

Overwhelmed medics struggled to treat the estimated 20,000 injured.

The initial earthquake was so powerful it was felt as far away as Greenland and was followed by a series of aftershocks, including a 7.5-magnitude tremor that struck in the middle of search and rescue work on Monday.

The impact was devastating and sparked a global response, with dozens of nations from Ukraine to New Zealand vowing to send help.

But a winter blizzard has covered major roads into the area in ice and snow and officials said three major airports have been rendered inoperable, complicating deliveries of vital aid.

Much of the quake-hit area of northern Syria has already been decimated by years of war and aerial bombardment by Syrian and Russia forces that destroyed homes, hospitals and clinics.

The conflict is already shaping the emergency response, with Syria’s envoy to the United Nations, Bassam Sabbagh, seemingly ruling out reopening border crossings that would allow aid to reach areas controlled by rebel groups.

The Syrian health ministry reported damage across Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus, where Russia is leasing a naval facility. Officials cut off natural gas and power supplies across the region as a precaution.