Syria’s hospitals are flooded with wounded after the earthquake: ‘They will take no extra’

Medical employees and rescue employees are stretched to the restrict after the devastating earthquake struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria early within the morning of February 6.

Opposition-held northern Syria has been significantly affected, and medical doctors report a scarcity of medical services to deal with the injured. injured. Jowharobservers spoke to a nurse at a hospital in Salqin who mentioned the world is on the point of a humanitarian disaster as the principle lifeline for cross-border support has been closed.

Hospitals within the north have been utterly flooded within the aftermath of the quake. Medical doctors in Syria say they don’t have the sources or tools to deal with the severity or extent of the accidents suffered by the survivors.

A lot of hospitals themselves have been broken by the earthquake, overburdening these left to operate. Medical infrastructure in northern Syria has already been broken by heavy airstrikes carried out by Syrian authorities forces and their Russian allies lately.

The ambulance division is at the moment in Bab Al-Hawa Hospital, the place it has reached greater than 100 wounded, together with 13 deaths. #quake pic.twitter.com/MOaXHcQlis

– American American Medical Affiliation | SAMS (@SAMS_Arabic) February 6, 2023 A video posted on Twitter on February 6, 2023 by the Syrian American Medical Society, which helps a number of hospitals in opposition-held areas, exhibits the scenario at Bab al-Hawa hospital close to the border with Turkey. . All hospitals are full. Within the city of Atmeh within the northern Syrian province of Idlib, volunteers have been compelled to rapidly dig a mass grave to bury the victims of a close-by constructing collapse.

Saeed Al-Saeed, an activist in Atmi, informed the France 24 Observers:

About 30 folks have been killed within the collapse of a five-storey constructing. They’re buried within the Atme refugee camp as a result of their members of the family dwell there. That is the primary time a mass grave has been excavated right here. They aren’t taken to the hospital as a result of all of the hospitals are full. They will take no extra wounded. There are greater than 2,000 injured folks in hospitals to date. Their kinfolk got here to the scene to assist determine them.

A nonetheless from a video filmed in a hospital in Afrin, Aleppo province, on Monday, February sixth. The footage exhibits the our bodies of the lifeless coated in blankets. “There are greater than 150 unidentified our bodies on this hospital,” mentioned journalist Baraa Abdel Rahman, who revealed the video.

© Twitter / Baraa_Abdu For hospitals nonetheless working, many medical provides and support come throughout the border from Turkey, itself within the midst of a serious disaster. The Bab al-Hawa border crossing linking Syria and Turkey in Idlib province – the principle lifeline of support between the 2 nations – was closed within the aftermath of the earthquake.

“If the borders stay closed, we’ll discover ourselves within the midst of a humanitarian disaster,” mentioned Ahmad al-Halawi, a nurse at Al-Amal Hospital in Salqin, a city in Idlib province in northwestern Syria.

Bab al-Hawa crossing was utterly closed yesterday [February 6], in each instructions. Since then, nobody has crossed the border, together with the wounded, the sick, and ambulances.

Hospitals in southern Turkey have obtained many wounded – which is why the borders are closed. Even extreme circumstances should not allowed. If borders stay closed, we’ll discover ourselves within the midst of a humanitarian disaster. Thus far, we’ve not obtained any support from different nations or from the United Nations. Shut all border crossings in Idlib and northern Aleppo.

The seek for the wounded and the lifeless among the many rubble goes slowly, as a result of the Syrian Civil Protection groups would not have the sources to cope with this nice destruction.

Border closures even have implications for worldwide aid efforts. It is among the solely methods to get support into northwest Syria. Even when the border crossing is reopened, the roads between Turkey and Syria are badly broken.

The Syrian Civil Protection, referred to as the White Helmets, which operates as the principle emergency administration service in opposition-held areas, mentioned Tuesday that a whole bunch of households have been nonetheless trapped below the rubble of collapsed buildings. The group mentioned pressing worldwide support was wanted to save lots of lives earlier than time ran out.

>> Learn extra on The Observer: No one helps us: Syria’s rebel-held areas lie in ruins after devastating earthquake

An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale has collapsed 1000’s of buildings in danger in war-torn northern Syria. Northwestern Syria is the final stronghold of the opposition after greater than 11 years of civil battle, which has left the area devastated by infrastructure harm, shortages, well being crises and inside displacement.

Inside 11 hours after the earthquake, the area additionally felt not less than 13 massive aftershocks, in addition to one other 7.5-magnitude earthquake.

The loss of life toll exceeded 5,102 on Tuesday morning throughout the 2 nations. And 1,712 folks have been killed in Syria, together with not less than 900 folks in opposition-held northwest Syria.