At least 50 Palestinians killed from massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria

At least 50 Palestinians were killed by a massive earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday, according to senior Palestinian officials.

In a press statement sent to The New Arab, Faed Mustafa, a Palestinian ambassador in Turkey, said that the Turkish rescue teams pulled at least nine Palestinians under the rubbles of their house destroyed because of the earthquake in Turkey.

"The victims included Abdul-Karim Abu Jalhoum, his wife and his four children from Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip as well as Walid Abu Kashef and two of his kids, who died in the Gaziantep region," Mustafa added.

"We have been informed that there is another number of Palestinians passed away in Antakya, and the matter is being followed up," he added, further pointing out that there is difficulty in communication with the city.

In Syria, at least 41 Palestinians lost their lives due to the earthquake in the north of the country, according to Ahmed al-Deek, the assistant Palestinian foreign minister for political affairs.

"On Monday, the Syrian rescue teams pulled up Mohmmed Salih al-Abtah, his wife, daughter, and two of his grandchildren from Salqin, Idlib Governorate, northwestern Syria, and refugee Ismail Abdel-Razek Mousa and his three children," al-Deek said in a press statement.

"The earthquake claimed the lives of the refugee Abdullah Aref Ahmed, his wife and four children in the Jenderes area north of Aleppo, and the refugee Youssef Suleiman Ghazi, his wife and two daughters in the same area," he added. 

Yesterday evening, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the death of at least 21 Palestinians in Syria, adding that there is difficulty in rescue operations due to difficult weather conditions, and the difficulty of vehicles entering the alleys of the camps.

In previous statements, the ministry noted that three Palestinian camps were located within the earthquake zone, which are Al-Raml in Lattakia, Neirab and Handarat in Aleppo, in addition to separate Palestinian communities in the northern governorates of Syria.

As a result, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas instructed to send teams to participate in rescue operations for the victims of the earthquake that struck areas in Syria and Turkey, leaving thousands dead and injured, and causing great material damage, according to Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye.

On Monday morning, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria early on Monday, killing thousands of people as they slept, levelling buildings, and sending tremors that were felt as far away as the island of Cyprus and Egypt.

Rescuers in Turkey and Syria braved sub-zero darkness, aftershocks and collapsing buildings on Tuesday as they dug for survivors buried by a string of earthquakes that killed over 5,000 people.

Disaster agencies said several thousand buildings were flattened in cities across a vast border region - pouring misery on an area already plagued by war, insurgency, refugee crises and a recent cholera outbreak.