King again expresses support for victims: ‘a terrible drama’
King Willem-Alexander again expressed his support for the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on Wednesday during the closing talk with the press on the last day of the journey through the Caribbean part of the kingdom. He called it “a terrible drama.”
“Our thoughts are with the victims, relatives, injured and also with the families of the Syrians and Turks in the Netherlands who miss people and are certainly in great uncertainty.”
The king also thanked all aid workers and specifically mentioned the Dutch search and rescue team USAR “which tries to get people out of the rubble day and night”.
On Monday, the royal couple also spoke out about the earthquakes. Through social media, they expressed their deep sympathy for all those affected. “The victims and families are in our thoughts. They deserve every support,” said King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima.
Welcome to this blog
In this blog does NRC report on the aftermath of the earthquakes that struck Turkey in the night from Sunday to Monday and Monday morning, near the border with Syria. An overview of Thursday’s most important developments:
- It death toll due to the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, the 20,000. The vast majority of them died in Turkey, which has so far registered more than 17,000 victims.
- Rescue workers made it to Thursday two Dutchmen alive from under the rubble. Five other Dutch people are missing, and at least three have died in the disaster.
- Thursday it came first convoy of relief supplies for victims Syria. The convoy consisted of six trucks, which drove into Syria from Turkey via the border crossing at Bab al-Hawa.
- The World Bank has almost Thursday $1.8 billion in aid committed to Turkey. Help is also on the way from the Netherlands: municipalities collected about four million euros and Defense is sending a transport plane to Turkey.
Read here Thursday’s blog back