Syrians who survived Monday’s deadly earthquake are being treated in hospitals as they mourn the loss of their loved ones.
In a hospital in Syria, Osama Abdel Hamid held back tears as he recalled on Monday the massive earthquake that destroyed his home and killed his neighbors along with hundreds of his compatriots.
“We were fast asleep when we felt a strong earthquake,” Abdel Hamid told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at Al Rahma Hospital in the northwestern province of Idlib, where he was being treated for a head injury.
A pre-dawn earthquake of magnitude 7.8, the epicenter of which was the Turkish province of Kahramanmaras, wiped out entire urban areas in Turkey and devastated Syria.
Officials put the total death toll at over 2,300.
When the earthquake shook the home of the Abdel Hamid family in the village of Azmarin, near the Syrian-Turkish border, “I woke my wife and children and we ran to the exit,” the man said.
“We opened the door and all of a sudden the whole building collapsed.”
Moments later, Abdel Hamid found himself under the rubble of a four-story building.
All his neighbors died, but the family survived.
“The walls collapsed on us, but my son was able to get out,” said Abdel Hamid. “He started screaming, people gathered around, knowing that there were survivors, and pulled us out from under the rubble.”
They were taken to a hospital in Darkush, a town a few kilometers south along the Turkish border, located in the last main bastion of Idlib held by the opposition.
The institution soon had to accept patients beyond its capacity, and at least 30 cadavers were received.
An AFP photographer saw several ambulances arriving in Al-Rahma, one after the other, with injured people, including children.
“The situation is bad,” said Majid Ibrahim, chief surgeon at the hospital, where about 150 earthquake victims arrived late in the morning.
“Many people are still under the rubble,” he told AFP.
“We need urgent help in the area, especially medical assistance.”
Many “still trapped”
At least 890 people have died in the war-torn country, according to the Syrian government and rescuers.
The health ministry said at least 461 people were killed and 1,326 people were injured in government-controlled areas.
According to the White Helmets rescue team, at least 430 people were killed and more than 1,050 were injured in rebel-held areas.
The group warned earlier on Monday that “losses could increase as many families are still trapped.”
In one overcrowded hospital room, the wounded were lying on their beds, some with bandages on their heads, others being treated for fractures.
On one of the beds next to another patient, a boy with a bandaged head was sleeping.
In another room, a young girl who was given an injection was crying, her arm was in a cast.
Mohammad Barakat, 24, was treated for a broken leg.
“I took my children and left the house,” recalls the father of four, lying in bed with cuts covering parts of his face.
“My house is old and the construction is very old,” he told AFP.
“So I was afraid that he might fall on us. The walls of neighboring houses began to crumble when we were outside.”
‘Judgment Day’
The earthquake hit Kahramanmaras in southeastern Turkey at 04:17 (1:17 GMT) at a depth of about 7 kilometers (4.35 miles).
In the city of Sarmada in the countryside of Idlib province, a block of buildings was razed to the ground.
Mattresses and blankets were scattered among the remains of solar panels and water tanks above the ruins.
An AFP photographer saw rescuers begin clearing rubble and removing large chunks of concrete in hopes of finding survivors.
Anas Khabbash said he was “running down the stairs like crazy” as he carried his son and led his pregnant wife out of an apartment building in the northern city of Aleppo, which came under government control after heavy fighting in 2016.
“As soon as we went outside, we saw dozens of families in shock and fear,” the 37-year-old told AFP.
Some knelt down to pray, while others began to weep “as if it were judgment day.”
“I haven’t had that feeling in all the years of the war” in Syria since 2011, Hubbash said.
“It was much harder than shells and bullets.”
