Syrians have to demolish falling homes for safety following earthquake

ALEPPO, Syria, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- One of the saddest scenes one could ever see is the demolishing of his own home before his own eyes, especially after a devastating earthquake that deprived local residents of almost everything.

At the Nazlet Maysalound neighborhood in Aleppo and the nearby areas, the government safety committees have examined the seriously damaged buildings following the earthquake that rocked the country on Monday, and have decided to demolish eight buildings already.

On Saturday Xinhua team visited the site and witnessed the demolition of a cracked building.

Workers were knocking out some walls in the six-story building and opening holes in some corners to secure a smooth demolishing of the building.

A big bulldozer started knocking down some of the walls while workers started wrapping thick metal cords around some of the pillars to pull them back and make the building fall.

A hundred meters away, a cordon formed by military personnel and firefighters prevented people from inching close to the dangerous building. Residents, standing in pain, watching their memories and entire lifetime going down.

Jamil al-Muhammad, a man in his 20s, said that the second and fifth floors belonged to his family.

"We were sitting in peace when the earthquake hit, and we had to flee. Public Safety came and examined the building and marked the building as uninhabitable. So, it's being destroyed today," he lamented.

They survived the 11-year-long war, but the earthquake finally displaced them from their homes, he told Xinhua.

Now, al-Muhammad is staying with his parents and the rest of the family at a relative's house nearby.

His neighbor, a woman in her 50s, bitterly said that they were already impoverished by the nearly 12-year-long war, and they didn't know what to do to make a living after the earthquake.

"We have yet to receive any aid or help. We have yet to receive anything. Look at our situation. We got displaced, and we felt so cold. So, what is next?" she said.

Most of these people said they wanted financial compensation to buy new homes, which is not easy for Syria as the country is going through a harsh economic situation amid economic sanctions imposed by the United States.

Thaer Rahhal, an engineer with the safety team, told Xinhua that there would be more buildings to be demolished due to the damage the earthquake had caused.

"Any cracked building that has a problem we destroyed it because this building would pose a risk to the area and people," he said.

The UN said the earthquake in Syria displaced 5.3 million people. More aid has reached Syria's quake victims but it's not enough.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said that the earthquake killed over 5,000 people in government and rebel-held areas in Syria.