One killed as storm hits quake-affected areas of northwest Syria

One man died and several other people were injured on Monday when a storm hit refugee camps in northwest Syria where people affected by fighting and recent earthquakes have sought refuge.

The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, announced on its Arabic-language Facebook page that walls had collapsed in the city of Idlib, the village of Mastuma, and the town of Maraa - all in rebel-held northwestern Syria - after storms hit the area on Monday.

It said that the walls and other structures in the area were already damaged due to the earthquake, which killed tens of thousands of people in Syria and Turkey. The minaret of a mosque was also severely damaged in Maraa.

The Syrian First Responders' Team, another NGO operating in rebel-held Syrian territories, said that the storm had uprooted 58 tents in 28 camps late on Sunday night and early on Monday morning.

Last night's wind storm uprooted over 30 tents across 6 camps, including 5 camps providing shelter for #earthquake survivors in the western countryside of #Idlib. Our teams responded quickly, assisting civilians in setting up their tents and ensuring that there were no injuries. pic.twitter.com/7IBfWRiERE

— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) March 6, 2023

It added that most of the damage had been caused in camps recently set up to provide shelter to victims of the devastating earthquake which hit Turkey and Syria last month and killed over 45,000 people.

The White Helmets warned local residents not to approach buildings damaged in the earthquake or by regime bombing.

It had previously warned people in northwestern Syria that the storm was coming, warning people not to light fires and ensure tents were firmly attached to the ground.

Over half of rebel-held northwestern Syria’s four million residents have been displaced from other parts of the country as a result of the Syrian conflict, which has killed over 500,000 Syrians since it began in 2011 with the brutal suppression of peaceful protests by the Assad regime.

Many continue to live in camps and tents and the region's infrastructure has been devastated by successive waves of regime bombing.