Displaced by the Syrian earthquake looting aid supplies after the death of a child in the camp

Issued on: 09/03/2023 – 17:26 Modified: 09/03/2023 – 17:32

A video clip filmed by our Observer shows displaced people living in a camp in northwestern Syria storming and looting a warehouse containing humanitarian supplies after the sudden death of an infant in the camp. The boy’s parents say he died of a cold due to a lack of humanitarian aid, a claim rejected by some doctors, aid workers and officials.

Our Observer in Azaz (50km north of Aleppo) sent us a video showing displaced people living in a makeshift camp breaking into and looting a warehouse full of humanitarian supplies such as blankets and mattresses.

This incident occurred on the morning of February 24, 2023, just a few hours after a family discovered their seven-month-old baby, Zuhair Othman, passed out in their tent.

02:37 A video clip dated February 24, 2023, filmed by our Observer, shows displaced people in a camp rushing towards a warehouse where humanitarian supplies intended for victims of the earthquake of February 6, 2023 are stored. Winter blankets. Someone shouts: “Take what you want!” © France 24 Observers

Muhammad Othman said that he woke up shortly after 6 a.m. and discovered that his child had died. A distressing video, first posted to Facebook on March 2, 2023, shows Osman, still in shock, holding the lifeless body of his child.

“We have been in this makeshift camp for four days…and they have not given us any help,” says the father. There are no mattresses, stoves, or blankets. This morning I woke up to find my son had died from the cold.”

Othman says his family’s small home in Azaz was damaged by the multiple earthquakes that have hit southeastern Turkey and several rebel-held areas in northwestern Syria. Nearly 6,000 people are believed to have died in Syria alone.

“The only thing they gave us was a tent, which was very insulated, and there was nothing else to protect us.”

Our team spoke to Mohamed Othman:

After the first earthquake, on February 6, we stayed in our house, thinking the worst had already happened.

But on February 20th, a second earthquake occurred, leaving huge cracks in our walls [Editor’s note: There were twin earthquakes that day, one reaching 6.4 on the Richter scale and the other 5.8.] Fearing that our house would collapse, we decided to leave and go to stay in one of the camps run by the local authorities.

I asked the camp people for help, but the only thing they gave us was a poorly insulated tent and nothing else to protect us. On February 24, 2023, when I woke up around 6:30 am, my son wasn’t moving. An ambulance near the camp took us to the hospital, where they told me he had died.

It was very cold in Azaz on the night of February 23rd. According to the AccuWeather website, the temperature was only 1 degree Celsius (about 33 degrees Fahrenheit). Located on the border with Turkey, Azaz is under the control of Syrian rebels allied with Turkey. The city depends on Turkey for aid and infrastructure.

This photo shows the child’s death certificate, which was sent to our team on March 6, 2023. It states that the cause of death of the child was cardiac arrest. observers

When word spread that a child had died from the cold, it sparked a riot in the camp, with people breaking into a warehouse to seize supplies. However, the cause of death of the child is still uncertain.

The France 24 Observers team spoke with Yasser Samm, one of the two emergency room doctors who saw the child when he arrived at the hospital.

The child was already dead when he arrived at the hospital around 7 am. His body was cold and his pupils dilated. We tried to revive him, but to no avail. The EKG confirmed that the baby was dead and so we had to tell his father.

There are quite a few possible causes of death. It is possible that the child suffocated during his sleep, for example. In fact, it is impossible for us to determine the exact cause of death unless there are obvious bruises or injuries visible on the body. It is possible that the child died from the cold, but I am not sure why the father would insist that the cold must have killed the child.

Only a coroner can determine the cause of a child’s death. To do so, the body must be taken out for an autopsy by court order.

Hassan Al-Ibrahim, a general practitioner and head of the health service in Azaz, told our team that “there could be a thousand reasons for a child’s death, including cold. However, the hypothesis that death was a direct result of the cold is still very unlikely.”

Nasim Farouk, the head of communications for the Azaz city government that runs the camp where the child died, also questioned the father’s account. He says the camp was never short of help, even if it took time to get organized after the earthquake.

In the hours and days after the first earthquake, there were a plethora of donors, including many from local initiatives. The problem is that a lot of people who didn’t need help asked for it and got it.

One important thing to note – humanitarian organizations on Earth are very active. But no one was prepared for a disaster of this magnitude. Most of the NGOs had contingency plans but they focused on responding to air strikes or something. None of them had a plan to support the population in the event of a natural disaster of this magnitude. Even help from the United Nations took time to materialize. We had to wait a full seven days before the UN team arrived to assess the need on the ground.

‘Camps are sorely short of well-equipped tents’ Emergency shelters made of flimsy tarps were set up in this camp in Azaz for people displaced by earthquakes that shook the area on February 6, 2023. © Ayham Halal

12 people were killed and 150 injured in Azaz during the earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023. More than 380 buildings were partially destroyed and at least 80 were rendered uninhabitable.

Our team spoke with local journalist Ayham Hilal, who lives in Azaz:

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, emergency camps were set up by the authorities. There are also a number of well-established camps in the area for people who have been displaced in the past.

A large number of residential buildings in Azaz were severely damaged. Many humanitarian organizations and individuals have worked to provide assistance to those affected, whether they are from Azaz or the surrounding area. But there is still a real shortage of tents, especially well-insulated tents.

In addition, the price of tents has increased significantly due to the increasing demand. Temporary tents are erected using canvas between 1 and 2 mm thick. They have practically no insulation and don’t hold up well in storms. Many of these tents are blown away during storms and the temperature varies from day to day.

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