Women are crying, destruction is everywhere and overwhelmed rescuers need urgent help

In the city of Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey we found a tragically typical scene in the wake of the earthquake.

The city of 250,000 people is about 150 miles from the epicentre.

On one of the main boulevards, some buildings have been reduced to rubble.

Rescuers have brought in a couple of diggers and are working on the remains of an apartment building.

Some of the rescuers told us they heard voices overnight and they think there may be up to 15 people trapped in the wreckage.

Trapped residents unreachable after earthquake – latest updates

The rescue effort is a do-it-yourself collection of people. City workers, and members of the fire department, but no specialist search and rescue officials.

Nearby there were some people with relatives of the missing. Some of them were very emotional, waiting for news of loved ones and friends who were inside this building, the last time that they saw them.

The rescuers are working with real speed – the feeling here is that they’ve simply got to do something.

It’s very cold. Temperatures are sub-zero at night and not much warmer during the day.

It is an emergency situation but it’s not being dealt with by emergency workers.

There are people here from the fire department – they’re doing the best they can, but they don’t have the search and rescue personnel with their specialist kit, such as heat tracking equipment, to locate people under the rubble.

The destruction is seemingly random.

Some buildings were brought down, while others right beside them are untouched – a situation replicated across much of Turkey and Syria after Monday’s quakes.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

An apartment building tucked between two others is no longer there. Two diggers are at work, trying to clear what’s left.

The building has pancaked on itself and collapsed. Local officials have clearly taken the decision that the best thing to do now is to remove as much rubble as possible.

It is difficult to see how any people trapped underneath that rubble could survive for long, particularly in these temperatures.

But it is a difficult situation for those directing the rescue effort. They’re making decisions on the best available information they have, and they clearly need help.

Overwhelmed city needs urgent help with rescue

Nearby, on the other side of the street, people have gathered, desperate for news.

Women are crying as they look on, waiting for updates on survivors.

It must be an indescribably awful feeling.

In the briefest of conversations with locals, we got the immediate sense that local officials, people who work for the city here, are overwhelmed by the situation.

We stopped on the way into the city on one of the main boulevards leading into the central square and we could see other streets – again, some buildings were still standing, while others had completely collapsed.

There is a lot of destruction, and this is just one small part of the city.

When we flew in last night we saw search and rescue teams from the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, and from Turkey itself.

What’s clear is that they are desperately needed here. And they are needed quickly.

Read Entire Article