In a "race against time," the White Helmets, who are leading efforts to rescue those trapped under debris in rebel-held areas of earthquake-devastated Syria, made an appeal on Wednesday.
When a
7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Syria and Turkiye early on Monday, first
responders from the organisation that was established ten years ago to rescue
the lives of civilians during Syria's civil conflict sprung into action.
Since
then, they have been working to extricate survivors from beneath the rubble of
dozens of destroyed buildings in northwest Syria that are still under the
control of the rebels.
A video
showing the White Helmets rescuing a young girl and her entire family from a
fallen building in the province of Idlib was widely circulated on social media.
Mohammed
Shibli, a spokesman for the organisation formally known as the Syria Civil
Defense, declared that "international rescue teams must enter our
territory."
In a
neighbouring country called Turkiye, he told AFP, "People are dying every
second; we are in a race against time."
More than
9,500 people were killed, many more were injured, and many more were left
without shelter from the bitterly cold on Monday's earthquake in Turkey and
Syria.
According
to the government and the White Helmets, at least 2,597 individuals have died
in Syria alone.
The
group's response to the massive disaster in the northwest, which is controlled
by rebels and is home to more than four million people, was
"impossible," according to Shibli.
Even
states can't accomplish that, he added, noting that the volunteers for the
organisation haven't had the time to visit all the disaster-affected areas.
Britain
revealed on Wednesday that it would provide the rescue organisation with an
additional 800,000 pounds ($968,000).
The White
Helmets, which work in shattered opposition-held areas, first appeared in 2013,
as Syria's civil conflict was approaching its third year.
They have
received plaudits from all around the world for their work; a Netflix
documentary called "The White Helmets" won an Academy Award in 2017,
and another movie about them, "Last Men in Aleppo," was nominated for
an Oscar in 2018.
There are
3,300 young men and women among their volunteers, and 1600 of them are
committed to search and rescue efforts.
Shibli
added, "After 56 hours of nonstop work, hundreds of families are still
missing or buried under the rubble."
In the
bitter weather, "people's odds of survival are falling," he claimed.
Shibli
questioned, "But when will we acquire them? The rescue team requires heavy
machinery, spare parts for the ones they already have, and equipment.
According
to AFP correspondents in the war-torn nation, civilians and rescue personnel
have been forced to dig through the debris using only their bare hands.
Fatima
Obeid, a White Helmets volunteer, told AFP that despite being exhausted, teams
remained hard at work.
“Being able to pull survivors brings them indescribable joy and excitement,” she said from Sarmada in Idlib
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