ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - People continued to be miraculously pulled out from underneath the rubble on Saturday as the death toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria surpassed 24,000 and rescue efforts persisted despite bitterly cold temperatures.
At least 24,218 people were killed in both countries when a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the city of Kahramanmaras in southern Turkey.
A 70-year-old woman was saved from underneath the rubble in the city of Kahramanmaras in Turkey on Saturday morning, 122 hours after the quake struck, according to state-owned Anadolu Agency. And in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir (Amed), a 55-year-old woman was found alive.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay late Friday said a total of 67 people had been rescued in the past 24 hours.
In rebel-held areas of Syria, volunteer first responders the White Helmets said in a press conference on Friday they had stopped rescue efforts in all but three locations where they expect to continue working for the next 48 hours.
The UN warned that at least 870,000 people were in urgent need of food in both countries after the quake, which in Syria alone left around 5.3 million people homeless.
On Thursday, the first UN aid crossed the border into northwest Syria. Six trucks from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) brought basic relief items, shelter materials, and solar lamps for 5,000 people. "We are working very closely with authorities to support in any way we can and hope that aid will quickly reach those most impacted," said IOM Director General António Vitorino.
An immediate ceasefire was urged by the UN in Syria to help facilitate the delivery of aid for all citizens affected by the quake. “At this terrible time in Turkey and Syria, we call for the urgent delivery of assistance to ALL in need,” the UN Human Rights office said in a tweet on Friday.
The rights office also urged all actors in the affected areas to allow the flow of humanitarian aid.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government said it had approved the delivery of humanitarian aid to earthquake-hit regions of the country’s northwest under rebel control, which were some of the country’s areas worst impacted by the tremor.
Raed al-Salah of the White Helmets said Friday they expect to receive international aid within hours, but that it would be too late to assist with rescue efforts and would be used to recover bodies and remove rubble.
In Turkey, the government faced criticism as anger continues to build over its handling of the quake as well as the poor quality of buildings that crumbled, inflicting devastating damage to ten provinces in the country, particularly Kurdish-populated ones.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – a Kurdish group that has waged an armed insurgency against Turkey for decades and designated a terrorist organization by Ankara – declared a ceasefire within Turkey’s borders in order to focus all resources on rescue efforts.
