Earthquake Turkey: Gaps in aid as death toll rises

Malteser International: Dozens of villages in ruins

The earthquake on 23 October 2011 destroyed many homes in the village of Guvecci. Photo: IBCA man stands in front of his life's ruins: he lost seven family members in the earthquake. Photo: IBC

Cologne. Three days after a disastrous earthquake in the Turkish province of Van, residents of small villages in the affected area complain of a lack of relief. “The damage in the villages is incredible,” reports Ingo Radtke, Secretary General of Malteser International, the relief service of the Order of Malta for humanitarian aid.  Malteser International is working closely with Turkish partner organisation International Blue Crescent (IBC), who is currently providing relief on the ground. While the search and rescue operations and medical assistance to survivors in the large cities of Van and Ercis should receive reinforcements from the international community, the rural areas continue to be largely on their own.

More than 30 small towns have been either completely destroyed or are largely uninhabitable. In Tabanli, the village closest to the earthquake’s epicentre, almost all houses have been demolished. In Mollakasim, more than two-thirds of all houses lie in ruins. Through its local partners, Malteser International will start tomorrow to distribute food in these rural towns. In Van and Ercis, IBC will distribute 1,000 small wood-burning stoves for heating and blankets.

There are already clear signs that the region’s residents will need more than just short-term help to recover. “The livestock has died or run away in the chaos, and this year’s harvest has been lost, because it had been stored in the collapsed buildings,” Radtke says.

Attention editors: Ingo Radtke, Secretary General of Malteser International, is available for interviews: Contact through Malteser International’s headquarters at +49 (0) 221 98 22-155.

Please donate and support Malteser International’s earthquake relief in Turkey:

Reference: “Earthquake Turkey”

Malteser International is the worldwide relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta for humanitarian aid. The organisation provides aid in about 100 projects in more than 20 countries without distinction of religion, race or political persuasion. Christian values and the humanitarian principles of impartiality and independence are the foundation of its work. For further information: www.malteser-international.org and www.orderofmalta.int