So far, the strong earthquake has killed more than 20,000 people in Turkey and Syria. Cold, hunger and misery enveloped thousands of homeless people. Experts fear the death toll may rise sharply.

Condolences! More than 20,000 people have been killed

The golden 72 hours have passed, and experts worry that the death toll may rise sharply. Depending on injuries, entrapment, access to enough air and water, weather, etc., people trapped in collapsed buildings may last only about a week.

Aid agencies also warned that snowfall and lack of water, communications and power supplies could lead to deadly secondary disasters. Laroud, Turkey's emergency response coordinator for the humanitarian organization CARE, said the most urgent need was winter warming supplies. In addition, power and phone communication remained unstable and many people stayed in their cars overnight.

In Aleppo, the number of displaced people is increasing by the hour, said UNICEF Syria representative Kearney. We heard yesterday that some schools in Aleppo started burning school furniture to keep warm because it was so cold. Kearney also noted that there is also high local demand for medical, food and psychological support.

In addition, due to damaged roads and bad weather, it is difficult to carry out rescue work in some severely disaster-stricken areas. Ali, a resident of Kahramanmaras, said: "I couldn't get my brother out of the rubble, and I couldn't get my nephew back. Look here...the children are freezing. In the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, a victim of Umm even bluntly said that the earthquake was more destructive than the war. After the earthquake, she ran around looking for her missing sister and four nephews. "We searched everywhere, including going to the hospital, but There has been no news from them.

Persevere: This is a time for unity

Some good news from the tense search and rescue has also raised people's hopes. The video released by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation on the 9th showed that 79 hours after the earthquake, rescuers rescued a 2-year-old boy from the ruins in Hatay. Another video showed helmeted and dusty rescuers crying with emotion after successfully rescuing a young girl from a collapsed building.

The Antalya Metropolitan Fire Department also said on the 9th that about 90 hours after the earthquake, the rescue team heard sounds under the rubble and found the 10-year-old girl Hilal Salam trapped under the rubble of the building. , and finally rescued Salam. The injured girl was carried on a stretcher to the cheers of everyone, and then taken to the hospital by ambulance for treatment.

Many countries and regions have also sent rescue teams to the disaster-stricken areas. According to WHO statistics, 77 national and 13 international emergency medical teams are currently deployed to the two countries. UN Secretary-General Guterres urged the Security Council to authorize the opening of a new cross-border humanitarian aid point between Turkey and Syria to deliver aid. This is a time for unity, not politicization or division, but it is clear we need a lot of support.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the 9th that he would go to Syria and said that WHO is providing support for basic health care in the affected areas. In addition to sending a high-level delegation to coordinate the post-disaster response, under the coordination of WHO, three flights carrying medical supplies will be flown to the disaster area one after another. In addition, Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO's Health Emergencies Program, believes that post-disaster mental health support is crucial for survivors. He called on governments to reflect on the complex impact of war and conflict on health systems and the lives of ordinary people.Editor/XingWentao