The destruction is enormous after the earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria on the night of Monday. The situation is still very unclear.
Entire villages have been reduced to piles of rubble. Buildings, already damaged by years of war, collapsed on top of sleeping people.
The roof collapsed
In the Syrian town of Azaz, 18-month-old Raghad was sleeping with his pregnant mother and two siblings when the earthquake struck. The roof fell in on them, and another family in the building.
RESCUED: A rescue worker carries 18-month-old Raghad Ismail away from the rubble. She has lost both her mother and two siblings. Photo: REUTERS TV
A huge rescue effort was launched, and the image of the little girl being carried out of the ruins by a rescue worker quickly went around the world.
– We fear that the father has broken his back. His pregnant wife, five-year-old daughter and four-year-old son are all dead, the girl’s uncle Abu Hussam told Reuters.
Unharmed
Raghad is sitting apparently unharmed on his uncle’s lap when Reuters meets them. She has been given something to eat, and she is keeping warm with blankets and a small oven.
She probably hasn’t understood that she will never see her mother and siblings again.
LOST MOTHER AND SIBLINGS: Raghad is sitting here at his uncle’s house. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Hassano
EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS: The family is among many tens of thousands of earthquake victims. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Hassano
Another family in the building were all rescued alive, says the uncle.
The Ismail family had fled the town of Morek to Aziz during the 11-year war. Aziz is controlled by the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.
See special: Awakened by the disaster
No one yet knows how many have died. At least 2,000 buildings have collapsed, and it is feared that there are still many trapped in the ruins.
– We have put in all the resources we have, but it is still not enough, says Ammar Salmo, to TV 2 earlier on Monday. He is a member of the civil defense group The White Helmets in northern Syria
Millions of refugees from Syria and other war-torn areas live in the area affected by the earthquake. These often live in miserable conditions and have poor access to health care.
