Rescuers struggle to find earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria, as more than 20,000 confirmed dead

Rescue workers made a final push on Thursday to find survivors of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria that left many communities unrecognizable to their inhabitants and killed more than 20,000.

It is unclear how many people are still unaccounted for in both countries.

The earthquake struck an area home to 13.5 million people in Turkey and an unknown number in Syria. Even with an army of people involved in the rescue effort, the crew had to pick and choose where to help.

The view from the air shows the extent of the damage, with the entire neighborhood of high-rises reduced to twisted metal, pulverized concrete and exposed cables.

Although experts say people can survive for a week or more, the chances of finding survivors in freezing temperatures are slim.

As emergency crews and panicked relatives dug through the rubble — and occasionally found people alive — the focus began to shift to destroying the unstable structure.

DHA news agency broadcast the rescue of a 10-year-old boy in Antakya. The agency said medics had to amputate his arm to free him.

A 17-year-old girl survived in Adiyaman, and a 20-year-old boy was found in Kahramanmaras by rescuers shouting “God is great.”

In Nurdagi, a town of about 40,000 people nestled between snowy mountains, about 56 kilometers from the epicenter, the city’s areas are flat, with almost no buildings unaffected. Even the ones that didn’t collapse were badly damaged, making them unsafe.

Crowds of onlookers, mostly family members trapped inside, watched as heavy machinery tore through one of the collapsed buildings, the floors even inches apart.

Hopes dwindled

Mehmet Yilmaz, 67, watched from a distance as bulldozers and other demolition equipment began to destroy the remains of the building where six members of his family had been trapped, including four children.

He estimated that about 80 people were still under the rubble and doubted that anyone was still alive.

“There is no hope. We cannot give up hope to God, but they entered the building with listening devices and dogs, and nothing happened,” said Yilmaz.

Mehmet Nasir Dusan, 67 years old, sat watching as the remains of the nine-story building were brought down in a billowing cloud of dust. He said he had no hope of ever being reunited with the five members of his family who were trapped in the debris.

Still, he said, returning the body will bring a small comfort.

“We will not leave this site until we recover, even if it takes 10 days,” Dusan said. “My family is broken now.”

In Kahramanmaras, the town closest to the epicenter, a sports hall the size of a basketball court became a makeshift morgue to house and identify the dead.

On the floor were dozens of corpses wrapped in blankets or black shrouds. At least one of them appeared to be a 5 or 6 year old.

Workers continue to carry out rescue operations in Kahramanmaras, but it is clear that many people trapped in the collapsed building have died. One rescue worker was heard saying that his psychological state was deteriorating and the smell of death was overwhelming.

Challenge to survive

While stories of miraculous rescues quickly lift spirits, the grim reality of the hardships faced by survivors leaves a shattered community.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless in the middle of winter. Many have camped in makeshift shelters in supermarket parking lots, mosques, roadsides or amid the rubble since Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake, often desperate for food, water and heat.

In the Turkish city of Antakya, dozens of people are asking for help in front of a truck distributing children’s coats and other supplies.

One survivor, Ahmet Tokgoz, called on the government to evacuate people from the area. Many people who have lost their homes have sought shelter in tents, stadiums and other temporary accommodation, while others have been sleeping outdoors.

“Especially in this cold season, we can’t live here,” he said. “If people haven’t died from being stuck under the rubble, they will die from the cold.”

Winter weather and damage to roads and airports have hampered the response. Some in Turkey have complained that the government has been slow to respond – a perception that could hurt Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he faces a tough battle for re-election in May.

UN aid reaches Syria

In northwest Syria, the first UN aid trucks entered rebel-held areas from Turkey since the earthquake hit, underscoring the difficulty of getting aid to people in the country because of the civil war.

UN officials say more trucks are on the way with special aid for the current crisis.

Aid efforts in Syria have been hampered by ongoing fighting and the isolation of rebel-held areas along the border, which are surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Meanwhile, Syria itself is an international pariah under war-related Western sanctions.

The UN is authorized to send aid through only one border crossing, and the destruction of the road has prevented it so far. UN officials urged that humanitarian issues should be prioritized over wartime politics.

In the Syrian government-held city of Aleppo, rescue workers pulled seven people alive and 44 dead from a collapsed building in the city center on Thursday, state TV reported.

“We are racing against time. Time is running out,” said a group of Syrian paramedics in the rebel-held northwest known as the White Helmets. “Every second can mean saving a life.”

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen earlier said that those affected by the earthquake needed “more than anything” in terms of aid.

Before the earthquake, the UN had estimated that more than four million people in northwestern Syria, many displaced by the 12-year conflict there, were dependent on cross-border aid.

The death toll from an earthquake worldwide is the highest since the 2011 earthquake in Japan that triggered a tsunami, killing nearly 20,000.