Milwaukee, WI
Turkey-Syria earthquake: Milwaukee Syrians worry about family
MILWAUKEE – Members of Milwaukee’s Syrian neighborhood are involved about their family members abroad after a strong 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked large swaths of Turkey and neighboring Syria on Monday, Feb. 6.
The earthquake killed greater than 3,400 folks and injured hundreds extra because it toppled hundreds of buildings and trapped residents underneath mounds of rubble. Authorities feared the dying toll would preserve climbing as rescuers searched by way of tangles of metallic and concrete for survivors in a area beset by Syria’s 12-year civil battle and a refugee disaster.
Employees at Milwaukee Syrian restaurant Damascus Gate have been emotional after the earthquake hit their dwelling nation.
Rajaa Abdallah’s face was full of fear together with her household in Syria on her thoughts. Her co-worker, Marwan Alaboud, additionally involved about household in Syria, helped translate.
“She will be able to’t go to them to see them to ensure they’re secure,” mentioned Alaboud. “Her brother and his spouse. They don’t know nothing about them. They have been in the home, and the home bought destroyed. They don’t know what’s occurring, in the event that they’re nonetheless alive or not alive. They will’t discover them. They’re underneath the bottom, and the home is simply on prime of them.”
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Abdallah shared movies of her broken household dwelling. The earthquake tossed concrete and left behind particles. The pictures took her breath away.
An aerial view of collapsed buildings as personnel and civilians conduct search and rescue operations in Idlib, Syria on Feb. 6, 2023. (Picture by Izzeddin Kasim/Anadolu Company through Getty Photographs)
“When she noticed them, she felt like she was going to die as a result of she noticed the photographs,” mentioned Alaboud.
At Damascus Gate, the unknown was arduous to bear.
“I haven’t talked to them as a result of they don’t have Wi-Fi or web,” mentioned Alaboud of her circle of relatives in Syria.
With hundreds in Turkey and Syria lifeless, they mentioned the aftermath is devastating to see.
An aerial view of a collapsed buildings as personnel and civilians conduct search and rescue operations in Cenderes district of Aleppo, Syria on Feb. 6, 2023. (Picture by Hisam Hac Omer/Anadolu Company through Getty Photographs)
“He’s saying, ‘God, please assist,’” mentioned Alaboud.
They each mentioned they hope the world steps as much as assist the folks in Turkey and their dwelling nation.
“Syria actually wants assist,” mentioned Alaboud.
Residents seek for victims and survivors amidst the rubble of collapsed buildings following an earthquake within the village of Besnaya in Syria’s rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Turkey on Feb. 6, 2023. (Picture by OMAR HAJ KADO