UN food agency chief tells of ‘apocalyptic’ scenes in quake-hit Turkey
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Trucks carrying UN World Food Programme aid in the wake of deadly earthquakes, at the Bab al-Hawa crossing in Syria in Monday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
ROME – The head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Saturday that he was confronted with “apocalyptic” scenes as he visited earthquake-stricken areas in southern Turkey.
Strong earthquakes struck both Turkey and neighbouring Syria in February, killing more than 50,000 people, according to the latest figures released on Friday.
“There is only one way to describe what I saw today: apocalyptic,” WFP executive director David Beasley said after visiting the city of Antakya in Turkey’s Hatay province.
“Entire neighbourhoods have been flattened, homes destroyed, schools and shops closed, lives torn apart. The scale of devastation here is truly incomprehensible,” he said.
The official added in a statement that the situation on the Syrian side amounted to a “catastrophe on top of a catastrophe”, referring to the past 12 years of civil war.
The WFP said Mr Beasley visited a UN logistics hub where trucks are loaded with food and other emergency supplies before crossing over into north-west Syria.
He stressed the urgency of scaling up food deliveries to Syria “through all routes – without any restrictions”, and called for “all parties to facilitate access”.
North-west Syria, which is controlled by opposition groups at war with President Bashar al-Assad and has a population that was already dependent on aid for basic needs, was the area of the country worst hit.
Increasing aid deliveries is linked to the opening of additional crossings from Turkey into rebel-held areas.
One of these, Bab al-Hawa, was already in use under UN Security Council authorisation, and Mr Assad has given exceptional clearance for two others to be opened for three months. REUTERS
