Peaceland Foundation in action| Emergency responses in Syria

Following the catastrophic earthquake in southern Turkey near the Syrian border, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said on February 12 that "the world has failed the people of northwest Syria, where survivors feel abandoned." He also noted that "the relief phase of the earthquake is 'nearing its end' and the victims are now in desperate need of shelter, food, schooling and psychosocial care."

Damaged Buildings in Aleppo, Syria

After the earthquake, Peaceland Foundation coordinated and sent a rescue team to Syria on February 9 (Beijing time) to carry out search and rescue and open up the channel for humanitarian supplies and other aids. On the morning of February 10, the team arrived in Beirut, Lebanon, and received the earthquake supplies donated to Syria by local Chinese.

Peaceland Syria Rescue Group received the earthquake supplies (blankets and diapers) donated by the Chinese in Beirut

On the morning of February 11 (local time) Peaceland Syria Rescue Group arrived in Aleppo, where the earthquake was more serious, and docked with the local government and the local Red Crescent Society. Most of the affected areas are old houses, which collapsed due to the earthquake. The Red Crescent Society said that there is an urgent need for medical assistance, psychological intervention, debris removal and reconstruction, etc.; the material needs are mainly heating equipment, debris removal equipment, etc.

Aleppo Streets

Peaceland Syria Rescue Group docked with Red Crescent at Aleppo

On February 12 (local time), after communicating with the local government and assessing the disaster situation on site, the team learned that 440 victims' remains had been exhumed in Aleppo, and the emergency search and rescue work was basically completed except for a few areas where search operations were still underway. In the afternoon of the same day, the local government sent a request to the local office of Peaceland Syria Rescue Group that there might be 1-5 victims at the collapse site of a 7-story building in Syria Salh Al’Deen in the city, and the local search had been unsuccessful for many days.

Damaged Buildings in Aleppo

After communication, Peaceland Syria Rescue Group sent six people to the scene to investigate. Fadi told us that his mother, brother, sister-in-law and two children were all at home when the earthquake happened. After the survey group made a study and judgment on the scene, 11 members of Peaceland Syria Rescue Group arrived at the scene at 5:30 p.m., then in accordance with the process of rescue, the use of excavators, backpack hydraulic breaking and life search equipment on the scene from shallow to deep, level search combined with equipment for a comprehensive search and excavation, the operation ended at 21:00, the scene was cleaned up and no remains were found.

Peaceland Syria Rescue Group coordinated with Aleppo locals

On the morning of February 13, the local government sent a request for the victims of a building collapse in Bstan al_zahra. After communication, the rescue group sent 11 people to the site to conduct a survey and search. The survey combined with the site situation and building collapse status to the site of the previous operation results, judging that the site is crushed collapse. The possibility of the existence of remains was very small, and did not have the technical operating conditions, so we recommended the use of excavators to clean up the method layer by layer, and paid attention to the removal of objects in the cleaning process.

Peaceland Syria Rescue Group coordinated with Aleppo locals

In the evening of February 13, local time, Peaceland Syria Rescue Group was invited by the Governor of Aleppo to the city government for a meeting. Mr. Hussein Diab, the governor of Aleppo, expressed his gratitude for the arrival of Peaceland Foundation, and expressed his affirmation and approval of the preliminary search work, hoping to keep more communication and cooperation.

Peaceland Syria Rescue Group met with Aleppo Governor Hussein Diab

On February 15th, the local time, the relief group was invited by the Mayor of Aleppo to meet with the city government. The Mayor of Aleppo, Mr. Maad El Madlaji, expressed his gratitude to the arrival of Peaceland Foundation and its preliminary work, and hoped to have more exchanges and cooperation in emergency system construction, disaster mitigation and prevention, and skills system training.

Peaceland Syria Rescue Group was invited by the Mayor of Aleppo, Mr. Maad El Madlaji (fourth from left, back row), for a meeting.

On February 16, local time, according to the needs of the earthquake-stricken areas in Aleppo, Peaceland Syria Rescue Group conducted a selection of medicine categories, market research and price negotiation in Damascus, as well as coordinated the personnel and location of receiving supplies, and completed the first batch of emergency procurement at 7:00 pm.

Peaceland Syria Rescue Group conducted market research and material procurement

On Feb. 19, local time, the 20,024 boxes and 157 boxes of medicines including trauma treatment, diarrhoea, cold and fever, etc., purchased by Peaceland Syria Rescue Group and Beijing New Sunshine Charity Foundation, were received by professional doctors assigned by Aleppo government and shipped to Aleppo for the needs of local people affected by the disaster.

Aleppo government chief official received relief supplies

We would like to thank Ms. Wu Jinkun, her husband, Mr. Nuoyan, and son, Sama, for assisting Peaceland Foundation in completing the market survey and organizing the materials.

Ms. Wu Jinkun and her husband Mr. Nuoyan (first and second from left)

Considering the special environment and various security factors, the situation of the previous mission has not been disclosed. At present, Peaceland Syria Rescue Group has completed its emergency rescue mission and evacuated to a safe area and will then continue its work on material assistance to Syria.