ICRC chief says prolonged crisis made Syrians' ability to deal with crisis aftermath 'diminish drastically'

Damascus: According to Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), after more than ten years of conflict in Syria, Syrians' ability to deal with the fallout from massive earthquakes has "diminished drastically."

Spoljaric on Friday emphasised the ICRC's provision of services to those in need during a telephone interview, saying that the country "was very weak before the earthquakes and will remain weak for a long time to come".

After Monday's devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria, the ICRC has delivered immediate relief materials to earthquake-battered areas in Syria, including water, blankets and shelters, she said.

The challenge for the Syrians to cope with the aftermath of the earthquakes is that the tremors had come at a time when the country had already gone through more than 10 years of war, which had caused large-scale devastation to civilian infrastructure, according to Spoljaric.

"It's very difficult to sustain water and heating supplies in such circumstances," she added.

"The people are very exhausted, they are very scared ... they are very afraid to return to their houses," she said, adding people living in temporary shelters don't know when they would be able to return home, Xinhua news agency reported.

She said people in the quake-hit zone need blankets, food, water, and in particular medical assistance.

The ICRC needs to have access to all affected populations no matter where they are, she added.

With inputs from IANS