Cape Town - As the death toll of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck central Türkiye and northwest Syria on Monday continued to climb, with well over 2600 deaths reported by last night, the South African embassy remained on high alert with no reports of South Africans among the deceased as yet.
Rescuers were still retrieving bodies from the rubble on Monday, after the earthquake rocked the region at about 4am.
Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) spokesperson Clayson Monyela said while there have been no reports of South Africans injured or deceased, the embassy was monitoring the situation and on standby to offer consular assistance.
Consular assistance was non-financial, depending on the magnitude of a national disaster, but at times the Cabinet could take a decision to make funds available for relief, he said.
Humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers (GoG) teams were already on the ground assisting with evacuation efforts, among others, after Türkiye’s ambassador to South Africa had reached out for help.
“Our staff in Syria and Türkiye awoke to a terrifying tremor at 4.10am today (Monday), a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck various villages and cities in both Türkiye and Syria,” said GoG founder Imtiaz Sooliman.
“Our teams rapidly evacuated the children from our Bayt Kareem Child Care Centre in Gaziantep, Türkiye, while in Darkoush, Syria, our medical teams were on full alert to respond.
“The casualties started arriving with 25 deceased and 100+ injured and they are pouring in. The casualties in both countries are expected to increase exponentially.
“Freezing cold, rain and snow are hampering search and rescue efforts,” said Sooliman.
Gift of the Givers only responded if a call was made by the affected country for international assistance, he said.
“Not only has the call been made but we have been contacted directly by the Turkish Ambassador to South Africa, Aysegul Kandas, and by the Consul General in Cape Town, Sinan Yesildag, to assist in this huge disaster.
“They will facilitate all the arrangements in Türkiye. Our SA Ambassador to Türkiye, Dipou Letsatsi-Duba, has also requested our intervention.
“Currently, our team members, including Dr Naeem Kathrada and Colin Deiner, head of WC Provincial Disaster Management, are in a meeting with the Turkish Consul General and the GM of Turkish Airlines, Muhammed Soner Aydin.
“We will be meeting the Turkish ambassador and Dirco later today (Monday).”
Sooliman said search and rescue, and medical teams with specialised equipment were already on standby to fly out by the latest on Tuesday.
“Turkish Airlines will facilitate the transport,” said Sooliman.
Medical supplies, equipment, consumables, tents, blankets, food and other humanitarian aid would be purchased in Türkiye, he added, as they expand their volunteer, medical, search and rescue teams.
In the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, residents were hoping and praying for news of relatives and friends after the massive earthquake and a huge aftershock turned blocks of flats into mounds of rubble and piles of shattered masonry.
"“My nephew is under the rubble, with his wife and kids,” Ahmet Budak told Reuters after he had rushed towards their building. “We cannot reach about 30 people in total.”
“We are waiting with hope, God willing, we will get good news,” he said in Diyarbakir, a city of 1.2 million where at least 20 buildings crumbled in the powerful tremor even though the city lies 270km from the quake’s epicentre.
For Hasan Sancar, who ran into the street with his family when he felt the earthquake, the lack of contact was ominous.
“We called our relatives and when we could not reach someone, we were scared. There are acquaintances under the rubble right now,” he said.
“There are people still trapped under rubble.
“I have a friend living in this apartment, his children were rescued from the top floor.
“We’ll see what happened to those living on the ground floors. May God give us a speedy recovery,” resident Bircan Rizvan said.
In a statement, President Cyril Ramaphosa thanked the Gift of the Givers for their heroic efforts.
“Our nation and government are deeply saddened by the unthinkable loss of life in Türkiye and Syria, and by the vast damage to social and economic infrastructure with which the two governments and populations are now confronted.
“Our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones or are searching for relatives, and we wish injured survivors a full recovery.
“President Ramaphosa has expressed his appreciation to the South African humanitarian aid organisation, Gift of the Givers, which is joining the international response in Türkiye and Syria.”
Anyone interested in assisting can message Dr Qasim Bhorat 084 230 7866 (medical) or Ahmed Bham 073 571 6392 (search and rescue).
Anyone wanting to assist financially can deposit money into the Gift of the Givers account at Standard Bank, Pietermaritzburg, account number 052 137 228, Branch Code 057 525, ref Turkey.
*Additional reporting Reuters
Cape Times