The race continues against time in harsh climatic conditions in southern Turkey and northern Syria to recover the survivors of 3 violent earthquakes that struck the region on Monday and Tuesday, claiming tens of thousands of lives, injuries and displaced people, in light of the difficulties faced by rescue operations.
The bad weather impedes the work of the rescue teams and increases the suffering of the survivors who suffer from the cold under the tents erected and around the fires set up in the affected areas.
In Syria, rescue teams struggled in the cold and under heavy rain or snow, sometimes using their hands, to rescue people stuck between the rubble, while Turkish Health Minister Fakhruddin Koca explained that there are difficulties facing relief efforts for the afflicted, and pointed to damage to the electricity and gas networks in some areas.
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority announced that the death toll from the Kahramanmaraş earthquake and the aftershocks that followed it had risen to 3,381, and the number of injured to 20,426.
The administration confirmed the collapse of 5,775 buildings as a result of the earthquake, and it received reports of the collapse of 11,302 buildings that were not confirmed.
The Syrian opposition civil defense also announced that the number of earthquake victims in northwestern Syria has risen to more than 790 dead and more than 2,200 injured.
The Civil Defense said that the number of casualties is expected to rise significantly due to the presence of hundreds of families under the rubble.
For his part, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and the Interim Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Al-Mustafa Benmeleih, said that the damage to roads, fuel shortages and harsh winter weather in Syria are all factors that impede the agency's response to the effects of the earthquake.
Benmeleih added that the United Nations is working to expedite the mobilization of all possible aid for the affected areas, whether in areas controlled by the government or controlled by the opposition, but international support suffers from a lack of funding, according to him.
The government of the Syrian opposition has announced that northwestern Syria has become a disaster area.
The Director of Civil Defense in northern Syria appealed to the world to expedite the provision of aid.
For his part, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said - in a speech to the General Assembly - that he is committed to supporting relief efforts in the earthquake-affected areas in Turkey and Syria, and that teams from the organization are working on the ground to assess needs and provide assistance to those affected.
Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, also predicted that helping those affected by the earthquake would be difficult, and said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that assessing field needs may require days.
The United Nations also announced the deployment of its teams for disaster assessment and coordination to support the response to the earthquake at the request of Turkey, and said that there are more than 700 of its employees in the areas affected by the earthquake, and expected that the earthquake would disrupt relief operations in northwestern Syria.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that thousands of children are in danger after the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria and led to the displacement of thousands of families, noting that the conditions of children in light of the cold have become more dangerous.
The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs said that large numbers of missing people had been recorded as a result of the earthquake.