Humanitarian aid organisation, Gift of the Givers, says two of its hospitals in Syria, one close to the border with Turkey, are overwhelmed with many casualties and fatalities after yesterday’s powerful earthquake that rocked the two neighbours.
Head of the organisation, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, says there is especially concern about the death toll in Syria as casualties from most parts of the country have not reached its hospitals yet.
Sooliman says rescue and medical teams from South Africa are heading to the disaster zone from today.
“Our teams at Ar Rahma Hospital in Syria which belongs to Gift of the Givers and has been there since 2012 already started seeing casualties. 35 deceased were brought in, 173 casualties from one part of Syria, but there are casualties in all parts of Syria. The numbers are going to be very high; we’ve opened our standby hospital Hilaal on the border with Turkey and Syria and moving patients there and putting additional medical teams on site.”
![[File image] Water being poured into a container.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Water-Reuters-120x86.png)
