A global incentive for solidarity. The United Nations has appealed for donations to meet the "immense needs" of millions of people deprived of shelter, food and health care after the earthquake, whose death toll in Turkey and Syria on Wednesday was close to 40,000.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged all member states to provide "without delay" nearly $400 million to guarantee "humanitarian assistance that nearly five million Syrians desperately need," starting with "shelter, medical care, food" for three months. He said there should soon be a similar call for Turkey.
'Worst natural disaster' in Europe in a century, says WHO
"The needs are immense" and "we all know that life-saving aid is not coming in at the speed and scale needed," the Secretary-General insisted. "One week after the devastating earthquakes, millions of people across the region are struggling to survive, homeless and facing freezing temperatures," he added.
On Tuesday evening, the death toll from the quake stood at 39,106. On Sunday, the UN said it expected those numbers to rise significantly. "We are witnessing the worst natural disaster in the WHO Europe region in a century and we are still measuring its scale," said a World Health Organization official.
In a rare consolation for rescuers, four people were still pulled alive from the rubble on Tuesday in Turkey. Like this Syrian couple in Antakya, ancient Antioch, one of Turkey's most earthquake-affected cities, who exclaimed "Allahu akbar!" ("Allah is the greatest"!) once rescued, about 210 hours after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake of February 6, an AFP photographer testified.
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