With little rest, quake relief effort in Türkiye working round the clock, says British relief worker

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Despite difficult conditions, all rescue and relief teams on the ground in southern Türkiye are working around the clock to help the victims of last week's deadly earthquakes, according to a British volunteer, who said he has never seen anything “as bad as this."

UK-based aid group Islamic Relief is among the organizations currently taking part in search and rescue efforts in both Syria and Türkiye.

The leading Islamic charity has been on the ground to help with relief efforts since day one of the earthquakes last Monday with 160 staff.

Salah Aboulgasem is one of them. Currently in Kilis, which is among the 10 provinces hit worst by the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, he has worked with Islamic Relief for 16 years and arrived in Türkiye on Monday for the humanitarian mission.

Speaking to Anadolu, he said that all teams on the ground were working tirelessly despite harsh conditions like the freezing winter cold.

"The people are doing as much as they can. We've been working in 20-, 21-, 22-hour days ... teams are working around the clock," he said.

Speaking at what may have been a large event hall now being used to shelter quake victims, Aboulgasem said his fellow aid workers and he were working to assess their needs.

"Here is a center where families have come – many, many families from Gaziantep, from Adiyaman, from Kahramanmaras (provinces) – and the families here, we are registering them, we're assessing them, we're talking to them, we're better understanding their needs in order to further provide support to them."

He went on to say that by helping needy families, they were also assessing how they could help them in the medium and long term as "aid is always dictated by the needs."

"Our aid is always dictated by needs, is always dictated by the challenges, is always advised by the situation here on the ground. We can't dictate what the needs are, we have to understand them and then, depending on how they are, we have to operate accordingly."

Islamic Relief was already engaged in different parts of the world even before the earthquakes struck in Türkiye, said Aboulgasem, who added that the large number of emergency staff they had at the ready enabled them to better respond, help victims, and "be ready to understand the context to provide the assistance."

- 'Never ever seen something as bad as this'

Touching on the situation and scale of the earthquake in southern Türkiye, Aboulgasem said he had never seen any disaster so severe in his 16 years of relief work.

"In my time in working for 16 years in humanitarian crisis, I've seen wars, I've seen disasters, I've seen earthquakes, I've seen floods, I've seen hurricanes, I've seen many, many things. I can tell you, I've never, ever seen something as bad as this. Never."

While worried that the effects of these "unbelievable" earthquakes would linger for long time ahead, Aboulgasem pointed to glimmers of hope that had shown through the devastation.

"I met Yasin, a 14-year-old boy, from Adiyaman. He's come to Kilis. He's a hero. He and his family were on the fourth floor. Everyone in his building died. What was amazing was that he broke the window, he jumped out of the fourth floor when the building was moving. And he took his mother and his two siblings out and saved their lives."

"I am inspired by him," said the veteran aid worker.

This was not the only account of heroism that they heard in Türkiye, he said, adding that families had come together in solidarity after the quakes struck, caring for those who lost their homes.

While Aboulgasem plans to return home in a few days, his group is working to increase its capacity and teams in Türkiye to provide more help.

He also called on people to continue supporting relief organizations.

According to the latest figures, over 35,400 people have been killed and over 105,500 others wounded after the two massive earthquakes struck southern Türkiye within the space of just hours on Feb. 6, affecting more than 13 million people.

The earthquakes were centered in Kahramanmaras province and shook nine other provinces, namely Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

It was also felt in several countries in the region, including Syria, where the death toll has topped 3,600.