Idlib -

Bare hands and small axes in the face of huge concrete blocks. Without sleep for two consecutive days, the families of the victims of the devastating earthquake in northern Syria are racing against time to save those who remain under the rubble, or at least to find their bodies.

Like the rest of the residents of the region, Mustafa al-Abdo (28 years old) carries an ax and a pickaxe and strives - with what remains of his effort - to search for survivors in the Basina region, northwest of Idlib, near the Syrian-Turkish border.

Al-Abdo has been working for nearly 50 hours, but it seems that hope is what prevents him from falling tired, as he searches for his parents and 3 of his brothers under the rubble of buildings, after fate decreed that he would survive by sleeping outside the house on the night of the disaster.

With a pale face, the grieving young man appeared to be in pain and burning, suffocated by the tears as he told Al Jazeera Net that he had no longer heard the voices of his family members from under the rubble for nearly 12 hours.

He wipes his tears mixed with sweat and mud, to say, "I will not lose hope that they will come out alive, even if I worked for a whole month. Their voices were killing me with impotence, and I can only dig so that I might see a glimmer of hope. Yes, I did not know sleep two days ago, and I only ate bits to make my crucifixion, but all of that is underestimated." To see them alive."

Residents of northern Syria are calling for the provision of iron scissors, drilling machines, and sound equipment to face the earthquake disaster (Al-Jazeera)

Tools required

The situation is not much different with Ahmed Al-Yassin (31 years old), as he gathered his friends from the camps of the Sarmada region, north of Idlib, carrying primitive equipment for digging, and some of them headed to the city of Harem, north of Idlib, while others headed to the town of Bisnia, northwest of Idlib.

Al-Yassin confirms that the civil defense has become unable to help all those trapped under the rubble, so popular initiatives have been activated, some of which succeeded in saving an entire family from under the rubble.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Basin explains that what they lack at the present time is securing food and drinking water for the rescue teams, as well as securing drilling equipment because many young men want to work, but there is no equipment.

Regarding the details of the required equipment, he explained that it is iron scissors, digging machines between the rubble, electric generators, rubble removal shovels, as well as sound tracking devices under the wreckage.

The World Health Organization expects the number of victims to double because many of them are under the rubble (Al-Jazeera)

Medical damage

On the medical side, the director of medical coordination at the Bab al-Hawa crossing, Bashir Ismail, explains that because of the earthquake, 10 pharmacists and two doctors died, in addition to a number of nursing health cadres, stressing that hospitals suffer from a shortage of medical personnel, as well as a shortage of beds, as well as specialties and neurosurgery. and orthopedic surgery.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Ismail stressed that hospitals need medical staff, urgent medical supplies, painkillers, intensive care devices and equipped beds.

In this context, the World Health Organization warned that the number of victims of the earthquake disaster that struck Syria and Turkey may double 8 times, after dozens of civilians remained under the rubble.

"There is an ongoing possibility of additional collapses, and we often see numbers that are 8 times higher than the initial numbers," said Catherine Smallwood, director of emergencies at the WHO's European office.

Popular initiatives launched to support the rescue teams, but they do not find the appropriate tools to deal with the huge concrete blocks (Al-Jazeera)