Ismail Alabdullah (CNN)
A White Helmets volunteer working through the devastation in Syria says the organization does not have enough to handle this disaster.
“Our teams are working around the clock to help to save the injured people. But our capabilities, our powers are not enough to handle this disaster. This disaster is bigger than any organization in northwest Syria,” Ismail Alabdullah told CNN. “This disaster needs international efforts to handle.”
The winter is making the situation worse for people who already suffer under the lack of basic necessities, Alabdullah said.
“Most of them were displaced from other parts of Syria during the last 12 years of bombing and killing,” he said, adding that any help they receive will be spent on saving people “from under the rubble.”
Many Syrians have been displaced as many as 20 times, according to International Rescue Committee’s Mark Kaye, who spoke to CNN earlier Monday.
Before daylight, Alabdullah said the team on ground thought it could handle the impact, which it assumed would be limited to a few sites. However, when daylight revealed the large scale of devastation, he said, “we were shocked.”
People search for survivors under the rubble in Aleppo, Syria, on February 6. (Firas Makdesi/Reuters)
“What do we need most right now is for us as rescue workers is heavy equipment that helps us in removing mountains of rubble,” he told CNN. “We need medical supplies for those who we saved from under the rubble. All of this is the urgent need for us.
Alabdullah said he hopes that countries “believe in human values and human rights” and send support to Syria. “We don’t want to see that people stay under the rubble for weeks or days. We need immediate response from everyone, so we can help and end this disaster … We don’t want to see [more] people dying more,” he added.
Source link: https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/turkey-earthquake-latest-020623/index.html