‘Reports of clashes’ prompt some aid organisations to pause quake rescue work in Turkey

Aid workers in Turkey say the security situation is deteriorating, leaving them struggling to help those affected by the recent earthquake.

Monday’s 7.8 magnitude quake killed more than 24,600 people in Turkey and another 3,500 in Syria, and brought down thousands of buildings.

Hope is fading for those still buried under the rubble, and frustration is growing among those trying to survive in freezing temperatures with dwindling supplies of food and medicine.

Two German aid organisations have suspended rescue operations and rescuers from the Austrian army also paused their work on Saturday, blaming safety concerns.

Germany’s International Search and Rescue (ISAR) told Reuters news agency in an email: “There are increasing reports of clashes between different groups, and shots are said to have been fired.”

ISAR operations manager Steven Bayer said the area was getting more unsafe, something he described as typical in such circumstances.

Speaking at a camp for rescue workers in the town of Kirikhan, he said: “That’s partly due to the fact that food is now running out, water supply is running out, and then people are out searching for food and water.

“A second thing is that the hope that people had is now increasingly fading, and that hope can then also turn into anger.”

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ISAR, along with Germany’s Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), has said it will start work again as soon as Turkey’s civil protection agency declares the area safe.

Meanwhile, Austria’s defence ministry spokesman Michael Bauer said the Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit (AFDRU) had resumed their work after the Turkish army promised to protect them.

Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Kugelweis said in a statement on Saturday that there had been “increasing aggression between groups in Turkey”.

But he added there had been no attacks on the Austrians, who were “all fine” and in good spirits.

Switzerland said it is also watching the security situation closely, adding that it has measures to protect its 87 rescuers and eight dogs in Hatay Province.

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that there has been some looting, although he did not comment on reports of fighting.

A state of emergency has been declared and, he added, this means that “from now on, the people who are involved in looting or kidnapping should know that the state’s firm hand is on their backs”.

But, despite the challenges, the rescuers are having some success.

Austria’s 82 rescue workers have saved nine people in Antakya, the ancient capital of Hatay, while the Swiss rescuers have saved 11 people, including two babies.

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Local and foreign rescuers saved more than a dozen people on Saturday alone, including a family in Kahramanmaras. A seven-year-old girl was rescued in Hatay, and a family of five was pulled from the debris in Gaziantep, near the Syrian border.