Aerial view over collapsed buildings in Turkey shows devastation

Whole neighbourhoods gone: Aerial images reveal shocking devastation of mega quake in Turkey as UN warns of aid failure in Syria and earthquake death toll passes 33,000

• UN’s Martin Griffiths said more was needed for to support the devasted millions 
• Security concerns prompted the suspension of some rescue operations
• There are widespread accounts of businesses and collapsed homes being looted

Shocking aerial photos in Turkey capture the scale of the earthquake’s devastation amid warnings from the UN that Syria is facing aid failure.

Two substantial tremors, each with a magnitude of well over seven, demolished tens of thousands of buildings throughout Turkey early on Monday, leaving more than 33,000 dead in Turkey’s south and Syria’s northeast.

The death toll is set to keep rising as the rubble of thousands of buildings has yet to be cleared.

The UN announced that war-torn regions of Syria were facing a failure to get desperately needed aid, despite a UN convoy arriving with supplies.

The agency’s relief chief Martin Griffiths said much more was needed for millions whose homes were destroyed.

Two substantial tremors, each with a magnitude of well over seven, demolished tens of thousands of buildings throughout Turkey

The UN announced that war-torn regions of Syria were facing a failure to get desperately needed aid

The death toll is set to keep rising as the rubble of thousands of buildings has yet to be cleared

‘We have so far failed the people in northwest Syria. They rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that hasn’t arrived,’ Griffiths said on Twitter.

The UN convoy of ten trucks crossed into northwest Syria included shelter kits including plastic sheeting, ropes and screws and nails, as well as blankets, mattresses and carpets.

On Sunday, Bashar Hafez al-Assad, President of Syria, thanked the United Arab Emirates for providing ‘huge relief and humanitarian aid’ with pledges of tens of millions of dollars in aid as well.

However, security concerns prompted the suspension of some rescue operations, and dozens of people have been arrested for looting or trying to defraud victims in the aftermath of the quake in Turkey, according to state media.

An Israeli emergency relief organisation said Sunday it had suspended its earthquake rescue operation in Turkey and returned home because of a ‘significant’ security threat to its staff.

It was also reported that a number of people were deprived of their livelihoods and were cast onto the street to survive the bitter cold when faced with a lack of resources.

Quake victims were forced to break into supermarkets and loot for food and shelter, lest they succumb to the sub-zero temperatures with no supplies.

However, in Antakya, residents and aid workers who came from other cities have claimed worsening security conditions, with widespread accounts of businesses and collapsed homes being looted.

Security concerns prompted the suspension of some rescue operations, and dozens of people have been arrested for looting or trying to defraud earthquake victims

The UN’s relief chief Martin Griffiths said much more was needed for millions whose homes were destroyed

Some residents who were left homeless by the earthquake and are now sleeping in their cars and tents have claimed their valuable belongings, including gold, have been stolen.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Sunday that 57 people had been arrested for looting.

President Tayyip Erdogan said the government would deal firmly with looters, with a state of emergency being declared.

The military and police presence in Antakya has increased in recent days after Erdogan declared a state of emergency.

Yuksel Uzun, the owner of an electronics store, said: ‘Our shop is in ruins. Swindlers and thieves have (looted) it. They took what they could. We are left with what they left behind’.

He said the looters couldn’t enter from the front of the store, which was protected, and had gained access to the storage space from the back.

Uzun said he had seen supermarkets, pharmacies and various other businesses being broken into.

‘They looted everywhere. The market across the street, shoe stores… I saw them break into a pharmacy,’ he said, adding he would store his merchandise outside the city.

The United Nations warned that at least 870,000 people urgently need hot meals across Turkey and Syria

A boy searching building rubble for items to salvage in Jableh as the destruction continues to ruin the lives of millions

Officials say 12,141 buildings were either destroyed or seriously damaged in the earthquake

He said there were enough security forces in the city by Sunday but that there hadn’t been in the first few days after the quake.

‘Police and soldiers who live here went through the same things as we did. So we cannot expect them to have taken the necessary measures for the first couple of days,’ he said.

Berkan Yogurtcuoglu, the store manager, said it was normal to loot supermarkets in the first days because aid and supplies only arrived later.

‘For the first few days, everybody looted supermarkets because they needed to. I looted a supermarket because I needed diapers for my kids,’ he said.

The United Nations warned that at least 870,000 people urgently need hot meals across Turkey and Syria. In Syria alone, up to 5.3 million people may have been made homeless.

Officials say 12,141 buildings were either destroyed or seriously damaged in the earthquake.

It is said that 29,605 people had died in Turkey and 3,574 in Syria from last Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake, bringing the confirmed total to 33,179.

Destroyed homes in Jindayris, in the rebel-held part of Syria’s Aleppo province, where the UN said sufficient aid had failed to arrive

A distraught woman mourns over the grave of her loved ones following the aftermath of the destructive earthquake 

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