Cold Weather Worsens as Turkey-Syria Quake Toll sits above 20,000

More than 20,000 people are now known to have been killed in Monday’s earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, though the UN warns the disaster’s full extent is still unclear.   Rescuers are still searching rubble for survivors, but hopes are fading more than four days since the first quake.   Freezing conditions threaten the lives of thousands of survivors who are now without shelter, water and food.   Turkey’s president called the quake “the disaster of the century”.   A major international relief effort is gathering pace. On Thursday the World Bank pledged $1.78bn in aid to Turkey including immediate…

Controversy Trails Over The Whereabouts Of Ghanaian Player, Christian Atsu

Ghanaian winger Christian Atsu remains missing in Turkey after devastating earthquakes struck the country and Syria, his club has told news agencies, despite earlier reports that he had been rescued.   On Tuesday, Atsu, 31, was reported to have been pulled alive from the rubble of a building in Turkey’s southern Hatay province and transported to hospital with injuries following Monday’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake and its aftershocks.   But on Wednesday, Hatayspor coach Volkan Demirel said the search for Atsu was continuing.   “There is no information on his whereabouts yet, we don’t know where he is,” Demirel told the…

First UN Aid Convoy Reaches Northern Syria Since After The Quake

The first convoy of UN aid for opposition-held north-west Syria since Monday’s devastating earthquake has crossed into the region from Turkey.   The UN said six lorries carrying shelter and relief supplies had gone through Idlib’s Bab al-Hawa crossing. The shipment had been due before the disaster, which caused damage to roads and temporarily halted deliveries. Local rescuers expressed disappointment at the failure to send the specialist equipment they need to save lives.   “The UN aid… is the regular and periodic assistance that has been occurring since before the earthquake,” tweeted the White Helmets, an organisation whose volunteer first…

State Of Emergency Declared In Turkey As Death Toll Rises Above 5,000

Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a three months state of emergency in the south-east of the country after death toll climbed again. He said there are 10 cities within the earthquake disaster zone and confirmed his government has received offers of help from 70 countries around the world. Countries including the US and South Korea are sending aid after Turkey issued and international appeal for help. At least 3,419 people have died in Turkey and 1,602 in government- and rebel-controlled parts of Syria, bringing the total to at least 5,021, officials and medical sources said.     The…