On Tuesday, President William Ruto sent out a heartfelt condolence message to families and victims of a string of earthquakes that killed at least 4,800 people in Syria and Turkey.
“Our hearts go out to the people of Türkiye and Syria following the loss of life caused by the earthquake,” the Head of State tweeted.
“We mourn with families who have lost loved ones and wish all those injured a quick recovery,”
Disaster agencies said several thousand buildings were flattened in cities across a vast border region — pouring misery on an area already plagued by war, insurgency, refugee crises and a recent cholera outbreak.
Through the night, survivors used their bare hands to pick over the twisted ruins of multi-storey apartment blocks — trying to save family, friends and anyone else sleeping inside where the first massive 7.8-magnitude quake struck early Monday.
The sense of disbelief was widespread, as residents struggled to comprehend the scale of the disaster.
Some of the heaviest devastations occurred near the quake’s epicentre between Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, a city of two million where entire blocks now lie in ruins under gathering snow.
As residents tried to clear a mountain of masonry, plasterboard and furniture that had been a multi-story building, another collapsed nearby — sending crowds screaming and clamouring for safety.
With aftershocks continuously rattling the area, many terrified and exhausted survivors spent the night outdoors, too afraid to go home.
Some huddled under bus shelters, some wrapped themselves in plastic to repel the freezing rain and others burned debris to keep warm.
Turkey’s relief agency AFAD put the latest death toll at 3,381 in that country alone — bringing the confirmed tally in both Turkey and Syria to 4,890.
There are fears that the toll will rise inexorably, with World Health Organization officials estimating up to 20,000 may have died.
Overwhelmed medics struggled to treat the estimated 20,000 injured.
