but nothing else. the contrast here with what s going on in turkey is astonishing. over on that side of the border, there s a constant sound of sirens, of heavy machinery, of people working. there s none of that here. down there, there are small children removing the rubble. while the international community isn t here, it s being left to small boys to remove the rubble from these broken buildings and to try and find bodies. and it is bodies they re trying to find now because they say that the time for looking for survivors has passed here, that that passed 2a hours ago. this is mainly a recovery mission, they re no longer rescuing people, and the reason they re no longer rescuing people is because the aid just didn t come quick enough. getting a good to syria is difficult because of sanctions on the conflict within the country. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, has been speaking to the un humanitarian chief, martin griffiths, on a visit to the turkish city of kahrama
of nationwide strikes. today s organisers are hoping to match the scale of mass rallies three weeks ago. you are watching bbc news. more now on our top story now. the un s aid chief, martin griffiths, has described the earthquakes that hit southern turkey and north western syria as the worst natural disaster in the region for 100 years. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, has been speaking to mr griffiths on a visit to the turkish city of kahramanmaras. martin griffiths, you have seen so many disasters in so many parts of the world. how does this compare? i think it s the worst natural disaster that i ve ever seen. and it s also the most extraordinary international response, as you know.
over on that side of the border, there s a constant sound of sirens, of heavy machinery, of people working. there s none of that here. down there, are small children removing the rubble. while the international community isn t here, it s being left to small boys to remove the rubble from these broken buildings and to try and find bodies. and it is bodies they re trying to find now because they say that the time for looking for survivors has passed here, that that passed 2a hours ago. this is mainly a recovery mission, they re no longer mission, they re no longer rescuing people and the reason they re no longer rescuing people is because the aid just didn t come quick enough. very complicated there. our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, has been speaking to the un humanitarian chief, martin griffiths, on a visit to the turkish city of kahramanmaras. martin griffiths, you have seen so many disasters in so many different parts of the world. how does this compare?
creates this empathy that no other medium, i think, can create. hello and welcome to the programme. we begin with the situation in turkey and syria, where more than 12,000 people are known to have died in the earthquakes which devastated the region. aid workers have warned they are dealing with a nightmare scenario . in a moment, jeremy bowen reports from syria, but first let s hear from our correspondent anna foster, who was among the first journalists to reach the epicentre zone. she sent this report from the turkish city of kahramanmaras. the devastating power of the earth, seen from the air. swathes of this city lie in ruins, buildings,
says it wasn t possible to be prepared for disasters on this scale. 0ur middle east correspondent, anna foster, who was among the first journalists to reach the epicentre zone, sent this report from the turkish city of kahramanmaras. the devastating power of the earth, seen from the air. swathes of the city lie in ruins, buildings, homes, lives have been destroyed. in many cities, the search now is not for survivors, cities, the search now is not forsurvivors, it cities, the search now is not for survivors, it is only for the dead. when the rubble shows a sign, the digging stops. behind this blanket, an arm reveals a body. slowly, carefully, it is uncovered. and then at the moment of realisation. screams.