A small convoy crossed from Turkey into Syria's rebel-held northwest Thursday with desperately needed medicines, blankets, tents and UN shelter kits, the first aid to reach the enclave, three days after the devastating earthquake killed thousands.
Before the convoy of six trucks, the only cargo coming across the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Turkey-Syria border was a steady stream of bodies of earthquake victims -- Syrian refugees who had fled the war in their country and settled in Turkey but perished in Monday's 7.8 magnitude quake. Tearful survivors carried the remains of their loved ones wrapped in sheets, while others waited on the Syrian side to receive them.
Smaller aid groups have reportedly brought in some aid across other border crossings, but UN officials have been reluctant to break protocol. Local rescue crews said aid delays may have cost more lives. Lack of heavy machinery and other equipment forced rescuers to clear the rubble with whatever they had -- including their bare hands.
While Thursday's convoy was a delivery delayed from before the earthquake, the UN said more convoys with earthquake-response aid would follow. In Damascus, the parliament on Thursday called for the immediate lifting of Western-led sanctions on Syria, after the Syrian Red Crescent earlier this week urged the same amid fuel shortages and insufficient equipment.
The quake's death toll rose Thursday across Syria's front lines, with more than 1,900 killed in the rebel-held enclave and over 1,200 on the government side. Assad's adviser Bouthaina Shaaban told London's Sky News that Syria is willing to receive assistance from any country in the world, except Israel, which has offered help to both Turkey and Syria.
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