Medical professionals rush to Syria and Turkey as thousands die in massive eqarthquake

Workers rush to Syria, Turkey after devastating earthquake

The massive earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey this week has killed at least 7,000 and likely more. At least one doctor warns this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria is now at 7,000 people and the need for help from around the world is desperate.

As the injured are rushed to the hospitals that are still standing, many are finding other ways to help. Like the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) which has been operating clinics throughout the decade-long civil war - and now the deadliest earthquake in a century.

"The size of the tragedy is beyond description. Actually what we are seeing now is the tip of the iceberg," said Dr. Mufaddal Hamadeh.

Dr. Hamadeh is a past president of SAMS and he says medical workers there are beyond exhausted - mentally. He said many also feel helpless amid so much destruction and many people trapped.

"There's no infrastructure or heavy equipment and the required equipment to be able to pull those people out. So you watch them helplessly and you just pray that they will make it alive," Dr. Hamadeh said.

Belal Sharaf Aldeen is a journalist from Syria and living in Istanbul. He said his brother and relatives are in one of Turkey's hardest hit areas called Hatay.

"I'm unable to do anything but pray," he said. "The reality is most horrifying - most terrifying."

So far, more than 7,000 people have died and tens of thousands are injured. Thousands of building have bend destroy and Aldeen said that includes the hospital in Hatay. Their family like so many has lost loved ones.

"She is now with her son under the rubble and we don't know anything about them. Her grandson has died. Immediately after the earthquake happened, the wall fall on their bodies," he said.

5-year-old Ihsan Al-khalid was killed - one of so many across both countries.

"A good dear friend of mine who lost his wife and four children in a collapsed building," said Dr. Hamadeh

Dr. Hamadeh says donations are coming in the form of volunteers, doctors, specialists, trauma surgeons, and therapists. But more help will be needed from teh rest of the world.

"This is a human tragedy that we can always try to mend the broken limbs, the broken bones but mending the hearts and emotions is going to take a long time," he said.

For more information about SAMS and how you can help, check out their page here.