Hungarian people’s report on the earthquake in Syria and Türkiye

As part of the Hungarian Maltese Charity’s hospital program, mobile medical clinics arrived in Syria in 2018 and now they are needed more than ever. Tens of thousands of people are affected by the earthquake in Syria and Türkiye and the Hungarian team is doing its best to help the injured. 

There are no international research teams in Syria

Dániel Solymári, head of the international programs of the charity service, spoke to hvg.hu about the current situation.

The Maltese Charity Service has been working here for more than a decade. They have a residence permit and can work. However, partly due to international sanctions and partly due to entry restrictions, there are no international research groups in Syria. The fact that local organisations of the Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State are still active in the country makes it difficult to travel. Thus, you can take detours and many military crossings. However, the devices must be delivered from the warehouses to the damage sites, says Dániel Solymári. In Aleppo, the Lebanese army has men, and the local charitable organisations, the Red Crescent, also have a relatively significant number of employees working there. However, the capacities of the local disaster management are so limited that there are not really any mechanised tools or uniform, expert coordination.

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The Hungarian team provides additional health services

The presence of the Charity Service is not primarily related to search and research work. Rather, it provides additional health services.

“We are present in Latakia and Aleppo with mobile medical devices, which means ambulances and mobile containers, where we can also perform minor surgical interventions. In addition, we operate humanitarian hotspots where we provide food, drink and medical hygiene items in tents to those who have lost their homes or do not dare to go back to their former homes. We, the staff of the Charity Service, are helping to launch the two mobile medical locations this week,” says Dániel Solymári.

• Read also: PHOTOS: Hungarians saving many lives in Türkiye

60,000 people were killed or injured in Aleppo alone, and 35-40,000 in Latakia

According to the Hungarian charity worker, the numbers circulating in the press are certainly very far from reality. According to his information, 60,000 people in Aleppo alone and 35,000 to 40,000 in Latakia were affected in some way. The injuries are typically traumatic injuries caused by collapsed buildings and walls falling on people, but the treatment of psychosomatic and other mental health symptoms is also very important. That is why they provide general emergency care.

A Hungarian mother’s story

Dominika Kovács, a Hungarian mother with a young child, experienced the earthquake in Türkiye. The woman has been living in the country for two years,10 kilometers from Malatya, which was almost in the middle of the earthquake, writes Blikk. The Hungarian woman and her family were lucky to live in a relatively small, two-story house. However, now they do not have any money, the power supply fluctuates, there is no running water. “Now all we want is to get home to Hungary with my little girl”, says the mother.

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Source: hvg.hu, blikk.hu