CS Mutua condoles with Turkey, Syria after earthquake
By evans.maritim and BBC, February 6, 2023
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary (CS) Alfred Mutua has condoled with the governments and the people of Turkey and Syria following a devasting 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit both countries on Monday, February 6, 2023.
Mutua said Kenya is standing with the two nations following the tragedy.
“This is one of the most powerful quakes to have hit the region, leading to the tragic loss of life and destruction of property.
“I assure the brotherly peoples of Turkey and Syria of my great compassion and of the goodwill of the people of Kenya in this time of profound grief,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Syria, Turkey earthquake
The scale of the disaster in Turkey is “widespread and devastating”, according to an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Almost 1,500 people have been confirmed dead in Turkey and more than 800 in neighbouring Syria, with the death toll expected to continue rising.
lnur Cevik says resources are not the problem in trying to find survivors, but rather that it’s a race against time.
“You are working against time,” he told BBC World Service’s Newshour programme.
“The adverse weather conditions and people that are under the rubble, you have to save them before the weather drops in and kills these people because of the cold, so people who are now under the rubble, there’s a mad rush to get them out.
“We have radars, body sensors, but you know there’s so much widespread devastation that you can’t reach everywhere – some of it you have to listen [for]… [People are asked to stay] silent so that they can hear some people calling for help.”