Hopes are fading of finding many more survivors from the Turkey earthquake.

Time Running Out For Turkey Earthquake Survivors

2023-02-09 02:13:31

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Hopes are fading of finding many more survivors from the Turkey earthquake. Keystone / Abir Sultan

Swiss rescue workers fear the chances of finding earthquake survivors are diminishing as the death toll in Turkey and Syria rises above 17,000.

This content was published on February 9, 2023 - 13:46 February 9, 2023 - 13:46 swissinfo.ch/mga

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Some 87 members of the Swiss Rescue unit, along with 22 personnel and 14 search dogs from Redog, have rescued 37 people from the rubble of toppled buildings in Turkey.

But the chances of finding more survivors are fading given the time people have been trapped without water in freezing conditions, rescuers said.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck near the border of Turkey and Syria on Monday, causing devastation in the region.

The Swiss contingent, which is part of an international rescue force of 90 teams, will be supplemented by 10 members of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit later this week, according to the news agency Keystone-SDA.

Politics hampers Syria rescue

Staff from the Swiss charity Caritas are helping coordinate humanitarian assistance in Syria.

But rescue operations in Syria are being hampered by strained political relations between the country's regime and many other nations.

“We must separate political considerations from the humanitarian imperative,” Robert Mancini, Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told Swiss public broadcaster RTS on Thursday.

“There is no difference between the suffering of Turkey and Syria following this devastating earthquake. We must show solidarity with Syria.”

Some 500 ICRC workers already operate in Syria, which has been devastated by more than a decade of civil war.

Swiss Solidarity, the humanitarian arm of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation - swissinfo.ch's parent company - has raised several million francs after launching an appealexternal link .

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