“People on the street, they have nowhere to live”: how Russians help victims of the earthquake in Turkey

The number of victims of two powerful earthquakes that occurred in Turkey on February 6 increased to 4544. More than 26 thousand people were injured.

Turkey has declared mourning until February 12.

More than 7,800 people were pulled alive from the rubble after the February 6 earthquake, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said.

The first tremors of magnitude 7.7 were recorded in the province of Kahramanmarash in the southeast of the country around 04:00 on Monday, February 6.

They were followed by about 300 aftershocks.

Around 13:00 on the same day, another earthquake of magnitude 7.6 occurred in the region of Elbistan province.

The last time comparable in terms of the scale of destruction earthquake in Turkey was 84 years ago.

On December 26, 1939, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 was recorded in the east of the country.

Almost 33,000 people died, about 100,000 were injured, and more than 116,000 houses were destroyed as a result of the earthquake and the frosts that came almost immediately after that.

The situation is complicated by weather conditions.

In the earthquake-affected cities of Adana and Gaziantep, it is now about +5 ° С, in Hatay, from where the most applications for searches of people were received, about +10 ° С, and in the cities of the center of the country (Malatya, Diyarbakir) - frosts, sleet and up to - 5 °C.

Due to the cold, the chances of survival of people remaining under the rubble are reduced.

More than 13 thousand rescuers work in the emergency zone, about 50 countries, including Russia, sent their specialists to help the victims.

According to Daniil Martynov, adviser to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, the Russian airmobile group heading to Turkey consists of more than 100 rescuers of the Centrospas squad - international-class specialists who have tremendous experience working around the world.

“We brought with us all the necessary emergency equipment, and a lot of the latest models.

These are both endoscopes and locators that are capable of finding people at a depth of up to 4.5 m, ”said the adviser to the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, adding that the group included cynologists.

"So far it's hard"

To the best of their ability help the victims of the disaster and ordinary Russians who are in various Turkish cities.

Many of them organized a collection of warm clothes, food and hygiene products.

According to volunteers, warm clothes, blankets, electric heaters, heat guns, chargers and power banks are especially in demand.

Russian Maria, who lives in Izmir, told RT that a donated blood collection point operates on Konak Square, and a special courier service collects help in the city's districts.

“The guys formed a group of motorcycle couriers to help collect things for free around Izmir,” she said.

- Reception points take everything that we bring, but only those who have a Turkish residence permit and who understand Turkish (for communicating with doctors) can donate blood.

There are a lot of people who want to help, some of them were going to come the next day.”

Dmitry from the resort town of Lara told RT that in the earthquake-destroyed city of Hatay there is no one to dismantle the rubble - rescuers cannot reach him: “There are not enough people and cars.

The rubble is being sorted out on their own, in general, none of the rescuers are there yet.

My friend lost a total of 12 relatives on the outskirts of the city.

Today he is taking his family out of there.”

Together with other caring people, a man assembles a humanitarian aid car for survivors of the earthquake in Khatai.

“Children remained there, they need literally everything - clothes, food, diapers, sleeping bags, blankets, tents.

People are on the street, they have nowhere to live, nowhere to sleep, ”Dmitry explained.

At the same time, neither rescuers nor volunteers can get into some of the affected regions of Turkey, Yegana, a resident of Istanbul, told RT.

“Friends have gathered in Mersin, but still cannot fly out of Istanbul: there are a huge number of people trying to go to their relatives or to help the victims.

I myself am still in Istanbul, waiting for when it will be possible to go with them,” she says.

“In the destroyed cities, both helicopters and special equipment work, but they are simply sorely lacking.

40-50 rescuers dismantled the rubble of one house - only then did they move on to the next one.

Entire districts lie in ruins, people write, throw off photos and coordinates, ask: “Help, my father is under the rubble!”

And there is no one to pull it out: the special services simply can’t get to some places yet.”

According to Yegana, volunteers who are trying to remove the rubble are forbidden to approach the ruins: “Firstly, without equipment, they cannot even lift a concrete slab, and secondly, there is a risk of even more overwhelm the people left under the collapsed buildings.

And the count goes on for hours and even for minutes - people have fractures, they are dehydrated and bleed."

Yegana herself was hit by an earthquake in Izmir last year.

According to her, the destruction was then only in one area.

“And then the removal of rubble, medical care, resettlement of people took more than one week.

Now the scale of destruction is simply enormous.

And it will take a lot of time to clear the rubble, ”she argues.

Yulia from the city of Bursa also told RT that she was faced with overcrowded airports and a lack of transport links with emergency zones: “There is chaos at the airports - both those who want to help and those who have relatives have gathered there.

So far there is no organization - people simply take tickets to the affected areas, and upon arrival they are already distributed.

Now the main help is to get people out from under the rubble.

Women are needed to distribute humanitarian aid.

My friends have already been at the airport for seven hours, until they can fly away, I am waiting for a connection from them.

But for the most part, volunteers living in neighboring regions help.

They leave in their cars.

The roads are in a terrible state, we need cars, gasoline.

So far, it's difficult."

"A lot of missing people"

Some Russians offer their services as translators.

For example, Alvina, who moved to Turkey about eight years ago from Karachay-Cherkessia, helps victims who do not speak Turkish find out where to get medical help and communicate with doctors.

As Alvina clarified in a conversation with RT, she translates remotely, by phone.

At the same time, interpreters are also required locally, including for Russian rescuers who arrived in Gaziantep, Elena Onich, a guide from Kayseri, told RT.

“There were a lot of people who applied (for the services of an interpreter

), I myself wanted to leave, but the roads were blocked, and not only because of the earthquake.

There was a heavy snowfall, frost, many accidents.

It was the people who were needed on the spot, the interpreters didn’t answer the phone - the connection there is very bad, sometimes you just can’t get through, ”Elena explained.

- One of our guides in Diyarbakir has not yet been found - he was in one of the collapsed hotels.

We can't get through to another family we're friends with.

There are a lot of those missing - not dead and not alive.

Over 330,000 Turkish residents are housed in hostels, universities and shelters, said Vice President Fuat Oktay.

As Alena Dyakonova, one of the founders of the Community community center in Mersin, told RT, about 40 people spent the night in their office, who were afraid to return home after the aftershocks: “We organized cartoons for children, games, bought tea, coffee, cookies.

We tried our best to accommodate people here.”

Residents reacted differently to the earthquake, she adds: “The Turks and Syrians who felt the tremors at night loaded themselves, children, dogs into cars and left for the mountains or other areas.

The Russian-speakers mostly went out into the street, waited it out, and most of them returned home.

In any case, the administration worked quickly, posted information on social networks about where the gathering places are, where you can eat hot soup or drink tea, where you can spend the night.

Some have been sleeping on such sites for the second day, because they are afraid to return home.

And there are people who just slept through all the shocks at home.