A UN convoy comprised of 11 trucks entered rebel-held territory in northwest Syria from Turkey via the newly-opened Bab al-Salam crossing on Tuesday. More than 50 other trucks of UN humanitarian aid have already been sent through another crossing at Bab al-Hawa. The UN said on Monday that President Bashar al-Assad had allowed the use of two more crossings, Bab Al-Salam and al-Raee, for an initial period of three months.
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7:41pm: Stricter building codes needed, Erdogan says
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that enforcement of stricter building regulations was needed in the country after powerful earthquakes rocked southern Turkey last week, killing tens of thousands of people.
Erdogan said "collapsed buildings reminded the government of the need for stricter construction rules" in a televised speech, adding that his government would continue work until the last person was rescued from the ruins in the quake-hit area.
The Turkish president's comment came after facing accusations of corruption regarding building codes.
6:32pm: Two new survivors found in Turkey
A 65-year-old Syrian man and a young girl were rescued from the rubble of a building in the southern Turkish city of Antakya, 208 hours after the devastating February 6 earthquakes struck the region.
Emergency workers hoped further family members would be pulled out alive soon. The pair's rescue takes the number of survivors pulled from ruins on Tuesday to nine, more than a week after the worst quake in Turkey's modern history.
5:49pm: First UN aid convoy arrives in rebel-held territory in Syria
A first convoy of UN aid has entered rebel-held northwest Syria from Turkey via the newly-opened Bab al-Salam crossing on Tuesday, two UN spokespeople said, as the world body ramps up relief efforts in the aftermath of last week's deadly quake.
The organisation has so far sent more than 50 trucks of aid through another crossing, Bab al-Hawa. It said on Monday said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had allowed the use of two more crossings, Bab Al-Salam and al-Raee, for an initial period of three months.
The UN has admitted shortcomings in its initial response to the earthquake in the heavily-hit northwest region where some 4 million people were already in need of aid before the tremors hit.
4:50pm: Ukrainian rescuers pull woman alive from rubble eight days after Turkey quake
A woman was rescued from the rubble of a building in the southern Turkish province of Hatay by a Ukrainian team on Tuesday, some 205 hours after devastating earthquakes struck the region, CNN Turk reported.
Her rescue takes the number of survivors pulled from ruins on Tuesday to seven, eight days after one of the worst quakes in the country's modern history.
4:11pm: UN appeals for nearly $400 million for Syria quake victims
The United Nations launched an appeal for $397 million on Tuesday to help earthquake victims in Syria, where the disaster has killed thousands of people and left millions more in desperate need of aid.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world body was in the "final stages" of a similar appeal for Turkey.
1:31pm: First UN team since quakes crosses into rebel-held Syria
The first UN delegation to visit rebel-held northwestern Syria since last week's earthquake crossed over from Turkey Tuesday, an AFP correspondent reported, as anger simmers at the world body's slow response.
"A multi-agency mission has gone this morning from the Turkey side across the border crossing... It's largely an assessment mission," the World Food Programme's Syria director, Kenn Crossley, told AFP in Geneva.
The delegation comprised deputy regional humanitarian coordinator David Carden and Sanjana Quazi, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Turkey.
Activists and emergency teams in the northwest have decried the UN's slow response to the quake in rebel-held areas, contrasting it with the planeloads of humanitarian aid that have been delivered to government-controlled airports.
"I don't want to sit here and give excuses, but I wanted to share that we are all collectively in the same place," Quazi told reporters in the rebel-held town of Sarmada, close to the border. "I think we also know that it is not enough," she said, adding that the UN was doing its best to provide aid to the northwest.
12:50pm: WHO calls Turkey quake Europe's worst natural disaster in 'a century'
The World Health Organization's Europe branch has described last week's massive earthquake, the epicentre of which was in Turkey, as the region's "worst natural disaster" in 100 years.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake, followed by a major aftershock, on February 6 has now killed more than 35,000 people in Turkey and neighbouring Syria.
"We are witnessing the worst natural disaster in the WHO European region for a century and we are still learning about its magnitude," Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, told a press conference.
Kluge also said the health body had "initiated the largest deployment of emergency medical teams" in the 75-year history of the WHO European region, which includes Turkey.
"Twenty-two emergency medical teams have arrived in Turkey so far," Kluge noted, adding they would integrate into "Turkey's ongoing health response".
12:37pm: Qatar donates its World Cup mobile homes to quake survivors
Qatar plans to send 10,000 cabins and caravans from last year's World Cup to provide shelter for survivors of the Turkish earthquakes, officials said.
The gas-rich Gulf nation says it had always planned to donate the mobile homes. They were needed to help house some of the 1.4 million fans who descended on the small country during soccer's biggest tournament.
An initial batch of 350 structures was shipped out on Sunday, the Qatar Fund for Development said.
11:47am: More than 7 million children affected by Turkey-Syria earthquake, says Unicef
More than seven million children have been affected by the huge earthquake and a major aftershock that devastated Turkey and Syria last week, the United Nations said Tuesday, voicing fear that "many thousands" more had died.
"In Turkey, the total number of children living in the 10 provinces hit by the two earthquakes was 4.6 million children. In Syria, 2.5 million children are affected," James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency Unicef, told reporters in Geneva.
9:35am: Quake aid flows into Gaziantep airport as urgency shifts to humanitarian relief
International aid is pouring into quake-stricken Turkey as the focus shifts to providing shelter, food and medical assistance to survivors.
Gaziantep's airport has seen a steady flow of planes carrying aid from dozens of countries. Recent arrivals included a French cargo flight with 60 metric tons of material to build a field hospital.
"We have everything that’s needed to have a functioning hospital: two operating rooms, an MRI scanner, a pharmacy, sterilisation," said Lieutenant Patrick Brenac, a firefighter from France. "And then everything we need for us: our sleeping tents, a canteen, showers, toilets, everything we need to live on the ground for four to six weeks – or more if needed."
Click on the player below to watch the report by FRANCE 24's Shona Bhattacharyya, Ludovic de Foucaud and Hussein Asad.
9:15am: 18-year-old pulled alive from rubble in Turkey's Adiyaman province
Turkish television are broadcasting a third rescue this morning, even as experts warn that the window to find survivors is closing.
In Adiyaman province, rescuers reached 18-year-old Muhammed Cafer Cetin, and medics gave him an IV with fluids before attempting a dangerous extraction from a building that crumbled further as rescuers were working.
Medics surrounded him to place a neck brace and he was on a stretcher with an oxygen mask, making it out to daylight on the 199th hour. “We are so happy,” his uncle told local media.
8:05am: Two people rescued in Turkey nearly 198 hours after quake
A 17-year-old named Muhammet and an unidentified man have been rescued alive from the rubble of an apartment block in Turkey's Kahramanmaras province, nearly 198 hours after last week's devastating earthquake, broadcaster CNN Turk has said.
The broadcaster showed rescue workers carrying the two people, strapped onto stretchers, to waiting ambulances.
7:35am: Saudi plane lands in Syria's government-held Aleppo
A Saudi aid plane has landed in Syria’s Aleppo International Airport, according to state media, in the first reported arrival of aid from the kingdom to government-held areas.
Saudi state TV earlier said a plane had left for Aleppo carrying more than 35 tonnes of aid.
Saudi Arabia and the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad were bitterly opposed during the Syrian civil war, with Riyadh counting among the Syrian rebels' main supporters.
5:35am: Syrian rescue group shocked at UN move to allow Assad say in aid deliveries
The head of the Syrian opposition-run main rescue group has lambasted the UN's decision to give Syria's Bashar al Assad a say in sanctioning their aid deliveries though border crossings with Turkey, saying it gives him "free political gain".
"This is shocking and we are at loss at how the UN is behaving," Raed al Saleh, head of the White Helmets group, told Reuters, echoing sentiment among many Syrians in the opposition-held enclave that was devastated by a large earthquake early last week.
1:21am: Syria's Assad agrees to open two border crossings for quake aid, says UN chief
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to open two more border crossings to allow in aid to help victims of the earthquake that has left more than 35,000 dead across the region.
"Opening these crossing points – along with facilitating humanitarian access, accelerating visa approvals and easing travel between hubs – will allow more aid to go in, faster," said Guterres.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
