115 at-risk buildings evacuated in Syria’s Hama
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Around 110 residential buildings have been evacuated so far in the city of Hama, west-central Syria, after inspection, Mukhtar Horani, head of Hama City Council of the Syrian government, said on Tuesday.
The pro-government al-Watan newspaper reported that these buildings housed 200 families. Some families are staying in shelters, others in apartments rented by charity foundations, and others with relatives.
On Feb. 26, the city of Hama closed the application window for inspection requests due to an increased number of applications that reached more than 1.250 to that day, according to Horani.
The engineering committees formed by the Hama City Council have so far checked about 850 houses. Other requests will be dealt with accordingly.
Hama Governorate has not released the final count of collapsed buildings yet. In mid-February, they inspected about 7.150 houses, 256 schools, and 116 government facilities damaged by the earthquake in a provisional count.
On Feb. 10, the Syrian government declared the governorates of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, and Idlib disaster areas following the Feb. 6 earthquake.
At dawn on Feb. 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, killing more than 50,000 individuals. It also caused the destruction of thousands of buildings, leaving many homeless.
Suhad Zedan, head of Salamiyah City Council, revealed to the newspaper that about 45 houses were evacuated due to damages and cracks.
“Local charity foundations and donors” rented apartments for many families who were evacuated from their houses for a year in advance.