Turkey-Syria earthquake: UK aid appeal raises more than £50m

A UK appeal to help earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria has raised nearly £53m in its first two days.

The appeal by a collection of aid agencies was launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee and broadcast on television on Thursday evening.

DEC said donations so far have reached £52.8m.

The total includes a contribution from the UK government, which had pledged to match the first £5m raised.

More than 24,000 people are now known to have died in the two earthquakes which struck southern Turkey and northern Syria in the early hours of Monday morning - with that number expected to rise still further.

The British Red Cross, Oxfam and ActionAid are among the charities to have joined together to raise money for the many injured and homeless, whose lives have been devastated by the natural disaster.

Thousands of buildings, including hospitals and schools, have collapsed and infrastructure in the region, including roads and energy supplies, has been badly damaged by the massive earthquakes.

Buildings have also collapsed in north-west Syria - in an area which was already inhospitable and inaccessible after more than a decade of civil war, and where medical facilities are severely limited.

The DEC said it has used the money to continue its rescue efforts, with moments of miraculous rescues still emerging from the region.

One of its charities, ActionAid, rescued a young girl from the rubble in north-west Syria after she was trapped for more than 36 hours. On being rescued, she asked to go home before remembering her home had been destroyed.

Charity SEMA delivered 50 emergency shelter tents in Idlib, north-west Syria, and is providing hospital treatment to people injured in the earthquake. Its own staff are among the patients being treated in intensive care.

DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said: "We're incredibly grateful to the British public for their hugely generous response to this horrific disaster. It's impossible not to see the images on TV and hear the stories coming from Turkey and Syria and not be moved.

"Compassion comes in many forms, but we are urging people to donate money rather than things."

The campaign to support the disaster-struck countries raised more than £30m in its first 24 hours, with the King and Queen Consort thanked by the DEC for their "generous donation".

The Scottish government is also contributing £500,000.

The DEC estimates there are 17 million people impacted by the disaster, many of them left without shelter in freezing winter conditions. It believes the recovery effort will take years.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak helped to pack the supplies at a donation centre supporting the appeal on Thursday evening.

"As a dad, watching parents try and find their young children in the rubble, is heart-breaking," he said.

"We will do everything that we can to help Turkey."