This aerial view shows residents helped by bulldozers, searching for victims and survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings, following an earthquake in the town of Sarmada in the countryside of the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, early on February 6, 2023. MUHAMMAD HAJ KADOUR / AFP
The fragility of human life – and how quickly it can be whipped away by nature – has been starkly illuminated by the tragic earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, which have, according to a World Health Organisation estimate, left about 20 000 dead and hundreds of thousands missing and homeless.
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More than 50 000 rescuers have been deployed in Turkey alone and heart-wrenching tales are emerging of voices crying from beneath enormous piles of rubble, begging to be rescued. Many might not be saved.
The rescue efforts are being hampered in both countries by freezing rain and snow, while in Syria, the brutal war has already taken its toll on people and organisations who need to respond to the emergency.
Yet, amid the grief, humanity has showed its finer side: aid has been pouring in from dozens of countries and SA’s heroic Gift of the Givers teams are already in action.
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Russian troops in Syria are helping and Moscow has also offered its assistance, despite the fact Turkish drones have been used against it in the Ukraine war.
There will be heroism and anguish from amid the shambles. But, hopefully, disasters like this will remind us that there is more that binds, than separates, us.
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