People search for survivors among the rubble of a building destroyed in a powerful earthquake in the city of Jableh, Latakia province, Syria, on Feb. 6, 2023. According to the Syrian health ministry and the Britain-based pro-rebel Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake jolted the northern Syrian provinces of Latakia, Tartous, Hama, Aleppo and Idlib on Monday, killing at least 870 and injuring 1,326. (Str/Xinhua)
DAMASCUS, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Syrian red crescent chief on Tuesday called for lifting the U.S. and Western sanctions on Syria to facilitate relief efforts as the earthquake-stricken country is in dire need of rescue equipment.
Rescuers work around a damaged building after a powerful earthquake in the al-Arbaeen neighborhood in Hama province, Syria, on Feb. 6, 2023. According to the Syrian Health Ministry and the Britain-based pro-rebel Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake jolted the northern Syrian provinces of Latakia, Tartous, Hama, Aleppo, and Idlib on Monday, killing at least 870 and injuring 1,326. (Str/Xinhua)
Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) President Khaled Hboubati made the remarks in a press conference in Damascus, stressing that the earthquake, which jolted parts of Syria the previous day, has killed over 800 people so far.
The SARC wants equipment, ambulances, and heavy machinery, "and the main obstacle is the sanctions imposed on Syria, which we demand to be lifted immediately," Hboubati said.
Rescue work is in progress in quake-hit Hama province, central Syria, Feb. 6, 2023. (Str/Xinhua)
The earthquake heavily hit Aleppo, Latakia, Tartous, Hama in northern Syria and the rebel-held Idlib province.
Hboubati said that SARC does not differentiate between people living in the government or rebel-held areas, expressing readiness to send an aid convoy to Idlib.
People injured in a powerful earthquake are treated at a hospital in Hama province, Syria, on Feb. 6, 2023. According to the Syrian Health Ministry and the Britain-based pro-rebel Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake jolted the northern Syrian provinces of Latakia, Tartous, Hama, Aleppo, and Idlib on Monday, killing at least 870 and injuring 1,326. (Str/Xinhua)
The SARC chief also noted that the death toll would rise given the difficulty of removing the rubble and recovering trapped people.
"The deaths will increase, and the results will be catastrophic, and up until now, buildings are falling," he lamented. ■
