NOS News•
A week after Giro555’s national action day, more than 108 million euros have been donated for victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, Oxfam Novib reports.
That is 20 million more than the provisional final position of 88.9 million euros on the action day. The cooperating aid organizations provide emergency aid to victims, such as shelter, clothing, medical care and food.
Two weeks after the first earthquakes, the standings are 108,501,189 euros. Michiel Servaes of Giro555 calls it “a fantastic amount”. He visited the stricken Turkish cities of Gaziantep and Antakya last week. “This shows the enormous involvement of many Dutch people with the victims of this disaster.”
Another earthquake hit the border area between Syria and Turkey on Monday. “The aid organizations behind Giro555 are further expanding their emergency aid to help all those people affected by this catastrophe,” says Servaes.
The Red Cross has distributed more than 20 million hot meals and 15 million water bottles in ten affected Turkish provinces. Save the Children has provided 7,500 people in Syria with ready-to-eat hot meals and also provided meals to search and rescue teams.
Oxfam mapped the damage to the water network in the Syrian city of Aleppo. 250 repairs were made to taps and sinks in schools, mosques and temporary shelters.
On Monday, February 6, the first major earthquakes hit Syria and Turkey. The rescue work is still in full swing. In the Netherlands, Giro555 is still collecting money for the victims.
