The White Helmets rescue group announced on Saturday the end of search operations for survivors in opposition-held areas of northwest Syria that were hit hard by Monday’s earthquakes. The decision was taken after, since Thursday, rescuers have not been able to find alive people among the rubble, reports EFE.

The organization reported that “search and rescue operations are considered complete” and recalled that its teams “worked non-stop for 108 hours in more than 40 cities, towns and villages”, where 479 buildings were completely destroyed and 1,481 suffered significant damage.

After Monday’s earthquakes, the White Helmets rescued and helped 2,950 wounded in rebel-held areas in Idlib and Aleppo provinces, but “no survivors have been found under the rubble as of Thursday, February 9,” the group lamented.

For this reason, efforts will now be focused on the recovery of bodies that are under the rubble and on the removal of debris.

The aftershocks killed at least 3,553 people across the country, with 2,166 recorded in areas controlled by the Syrian opposition.

The White Helmets said they faced “numerous difficulties” after the first earthquake, particularly a lack of fuel for heavy equipment, a lack of modern technical equipment to search for victims and a “lack of international aid and support”.

“Working with thousands of wounded people in freezing temperatures and with the risk of poisoning from the bodies of people trapped under the rubble is one of the challenges our teams have faced,” the White Helmets said in a statement. (Agerpress)

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