Photos from across southern Turkey and northern Syria show scenes of devastation and suffering as hopes of finding survivors dashed more than four days after a massive earthquake hit the region on Monday.
With more than 21,000 people dead in the two countries, rescuers are racing against the clock to pull survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings during a harsh winter.
At least 78,124 people were injured in Turkey and Syria, according to authorities.
A U.N. aid convoy entered northwestern Syria from Turkey on Thursday for the first time since the quake struck. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, six trucks carrying shelter items and non-food items (NFI) passed the Bab Al Hawa crossing.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was open to the idea of sending aid through other crossings than Bab al-Hawa, the only UN-sanctioned humanitarian link between Turkey and the rebel-held area. Islamic Aid Corridor in northern Syria.
In Syria, devastation from the earthquake added suffering to an existing humanitarian crisis caused by more than a decade of civil war. The millions of people living in northwestern Syria, most of which are controlled by anti-government rebels, were already suffering from extreme poverty and a cholera outbreak when the quake struck.
Many are now left to fend for themselves, as many Western countries refuse to provide aid directly to the Syrian regime, which is sanctioned by the US and EU.
The Syrian civil defense group known as the “White Helmets” has warned that hopes of finding survivors in the country are fading.
Musa ZidaneA volunteer with the group told CNN on Thursday that “tens of thousands of families are currently homeless in northwestern Syria” following the quake.
He said the cold weather exacerbated the disaster as rescue teams struggled to pull people from under the rubble.
In rebel-held Idlib province, a man told AFP on Thursday he had been digging through rubble by hand as he searched for 30 relatives in the village of Besnaya.
Malik Ibrahim, 40, said he had recovered 10 bodies after two days of non-stop searching.
“It’s indescribable, I can’t put it into words, it’s tragic,” he said. “The whole family is gone and all our memories are buried with them.”