MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. Syria is counting on Russia’s assistance during the post-earthquake recovery, including reconstructing ruined houses, Director of Syria’s Civil Defense Major General Safwan Bahloul told TASS on Monday.
According to Bahloul, thousands of houses have been either ruined or seriously damaged.
"We pin much hope on Russia <…> in restoring what has been ruined by the earthquake. <…> We hope for real support and that engineering companies [will come to Syria] to help restore [housing] so that people can return to their homes," he said, adding that the post-quake recovery will depend on the amount of assistance.
"If we receive enough financial resources, we will be able to restore things back to the way they were before the earthquake, but it will take time," he stressed.
Apart from that, he recalled that his country is also recovering from a devastating armed conflict. "In Syria, we already have large affected areas (because of the war - TASS) and this earthquake was the straw that broke the camel’s back because a lot of buildings in the country were damaged during the war," he added.
Two powerful 7.7-magnitude and 7.6-magnitude earthquakes rocked Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province, located in the country’s southeast, on February 6. The tremors, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, were felt in ten provinces as well as in neighboring countries, including Syria. According to the Syrian health ministry, the death toll from the quake on government-controlled territories has climbed to 1,414. As many as 2,349 people were injured and taken to hospitals.