UN dispatches aid through Turkey to quake-hit Syria

Ankara: The UN’ first convoy of aid crossed from Turkey to Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, three days after the devastating earthquake, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported.

Six truckloads of aid entered the Bab al-Hawa border crossing through the Cilvegozu border gate in Turkey’s southern Hatay province, the news agency reported.

Bab al-Hawa is currently the only crossing through which the UN aid is allowed to go into the area, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ankara is working to open two more border gates with Syria to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid to its neighbour which also suffers from massive earthquakes, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

“Cilvegozu border gate is open. We are working to open two more gates … We also provide the necessary support for the aid to reach Syria,” Cavusoglu told reporters.

A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck Turkey’s southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time, followed by a magnitude-7.6 quake at 1:24 p.m. local time in the same province on Monday.

The death toll from the massive earthquakes in southern Turkey and northern Syria has surpassed 22,000.