His Majesty King Hamad has issued directives to provide humanitarian aid to countries including Türkiye and Syria which were hit by two devastating earthquakes in the space of 12 hours, resulting in the deaths of more than 3,700 people.
Rescuers are racing to pull survivors from beneath the rubble after the massive 7.8 magnitude quake ripped through cities in Türkiye and Syria, with freezing winter weather adding to the plight of the thousands left injured or homeless.
Tremors and its aftershocks were also felt in Lebanon, Israel, Iraq and Jordan, though no casualties have been recorded in these countries.
His Majesty directed the Royal Humanitarian Foundation (RHF), under the leadership of his representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, to help provide the necessary aid to people in Türkiye, Syria and Lebanon.
Earlier, His Majesty sent cables of condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad on the victims. The King expressed heartfelt condolences to President Erdogan and President Assad, the victims’ families, reiterating Bahrain’s unwavering solidarity.
His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, sent similar condolences to President Erdogan and President Assad.
The quake brought down whole apartment blocks in Turkish cities and piled more devastation on millions of Syrians displaced by years of war. It struck before sunrise in harsh weather and was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake.
“It was like the apocalypse,” said Abdul Salam Al Mahmoud, a Syrian in the northern town of Atareb. “It’s bitterly cold and there’s heavy rain, and people need saving.”
The second quake was big enough to bring down more buildings and, like the first, was felt across the region, endangering rescuers struggling to pull casualties from the rubble.
The quake was the biggest recorded worldwide by the US Geological survey since a tremor in the remote South Atlantic in August 2021. In Türkiye, the death toll stood at 2,316, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, and 12,068 were recorded as injured. At least 1,444 people were killed in Syria, according to figures from the government and rescue workers.
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