In the northwest controlled by the Syrian rebels, strange hands are digging the ruins of houses, while Abdel Qader Abdelrahman, a member of the White Helmets, is staring at the rubble, hoping to see that there are still people underneath who can overcome all difficulties and survive.

(Reuters)

[Central News Agency] A strong earthquake hit Turkey near the Syrian border on the 6th, killing more than 30,000 people in both countries.

In Syria, where the civil war is still ongoing, rebel-held areas have been devastated. Members of the rescue group "White Helmets" have worked tirelessly for five days, answering all the calls to save lives.

The United Nations (UN) today condemned the failure to send much-needed aid to regions ravaged by Syria's civil war, warning that the death toll from the earthquake that has killed more than 30,000 people in Turkey and Syria Fear will double.

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In the northwest controlled by the Syrian rebels, strange hands are digging the ruins of houses, while Abdel Qader Abdelrahman, a member of the White Helmets, is staring at the rubble, hoping to see that there are still people underneath who can overcome all difficulties and survive.

A former school principal, Abdurrahman joined the White Helmets last year as an ambulance worker, attracted by the White Helmets' humanitarian mission in Syria's 12-year civil war.

The civil war has torn Syria apart, with different regions controlled by rival armed groups.

The deadly earthquake on the 6th forced Abdullahman to assume a more direct search and rescue role. The death toll in Syria has exceeded 3,500, and more than 2,000 people have been killed in rebel-held areas.

"We've been working for five days," Abdurrahman told Reuters, during which time he never came home or saw his family. "We took all the calls for help."

"Whenever we lift someone out alive, we forget about all the pain and exhaustion and everything that happened to us...Our goal is to save lives from this devastation."

Formed in 2014, the official name of the White Helmets is "Syria Civil Defense". In the past, their bold actions to save people from the wreckage of buildings bombed by Syrian government forces and Russia have won huge rewards from the West.

The members of the White Helmets come from the folk, including bakers, pharmacists and engineers.

They work in areas held by Islamist rebel groups outside government-controlled areas, which have been heavily bombarded by air and shelling.

The White Helmets said that over the past few years, the organization has lost hundreds of volunteers, including the four killed in the earthquake, but they have saved thousands of lives.

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