WFP chief: Situation "apocalyptic" after earthquake

WFP chief: Situation "apocalyptic" after earthquake
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"There is only one way to describe what I saw today: apocalyptic," WFP Executive Director David Beasley has said after visiting Turkey's devastated city of Antioch.

The head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) described the situation in Turkey's disaster areas following the twin earthquakes on 6 February as "incomprehensible" devastation and an "apocalyptic" landscape.

Visiting several affected communities, WFP Executive Director David Beasley said that the city of Antioch in the southern border province of Hatay, is now "almost a ghost town," with homes, schools, shops and critical infrastructure devastated.

"There is only one way to describe what I saw today: apocalyptic," he said. "Entire neighborhoods have been flattened, homes destroyed, schools and shops closed, lives torn apart. The scale of devastation here is truly incomprehensible."

At the Boynuyogun refugee camp, Beasley met with families whose homes were reduced to rubble. The camp is one of seven where WFP has been supporting Syrian refugees for years.

The official added in a statement that the situation on the Syrian side amounted to a "catastrophe on top of a catastrophe," referring to the past 12 years of civil war.

Beasley visited a UN logistics hub where trucks are loaded with food and other emergency supplies before crossing over into northwest Syria.

He stressed the urgency of scaling up food deliveries to Syria "through all routes - without any restrictions" and called for "all parties to facilitate access."