First UN quake aid convoy reaches Syria
UN sent the first aid convoy to Syria via Türkiye. The convoy passed the border.
The first United Nations convoy carrying aid to Syrians stricken three days ago by a deadly earthquake crossed from Türkiye on Thursday.
The convoy entered Syria, witnesses and a border crossing official said. Turkish authorities said they would open other crossing points in two days if security was sound.
The earthquake struck Türkiye at night and was followed by ongoing shocks. The death toll from it more than 18,000 on Thursday.
The United Nations has described Bab al-Hawa as a lifeline for accessing the opposition-controlled area of Syria, where it says some 4 million people were already relying on humanitarian assistance before the quake struck.
"We need lifesaving aid," UN envoy Geir Pedersen told reporters in Geneva.
"It's desperately needed by civilians wherever they are, irrespective of borders and boundaries. We need it urgently through the fastest, most direct and most effective routes. They need more of absolutely everything."
THERE WOULD BE NO POLITICAL HINDRANCES
Pedersen called for assurances that there would be no political hindrances inside Syria to getting aid to where it was most needed.
"We had a problem because the roads leading to the border crossing (between Turkey and Syria) had been destroyed," Pedersen said. "But we were assured that we will be able to get through the first assistance today."
THE EFFORTS ARE INSUFFICIENT
Rescue workers said the United Nations' efforts were insufficient. They added that the most needed things are heavy equipment for search-and-rescue operations where many people are under the rubble.
"The U.N. are not delivering the aid that we are in most need of to help us save lives with time running out," Raed al Saleh, who leads the main volunteer rescue group known as the White Helmets, told Reuters.
Volunteers and rescue workers are relying on simple tools and old cranes in towns and cities that have seen whole neighbourhoods wiped out, charities and rescuers said.
