Call for Help for Türkiye
Dear WLPGA Members and Industry Colleagues,
I am sure you have all seen the dreadful news and images from Türkiye and Syria following the devastating earthquakes and horrendous loss of life. The aftermath of this is also seeing many hundreds of thousands of people without shelter, compounding the disaster. We know that LPG is critical to the immediate post-disaster relief, so I am asking you to respond to a call for help from the Turkish LPG Association – see below.
Thank you for any help that you can provide. Conditions in the disaster area are very poor, so time is of the essence.
Please liaise directly with the Chairman of the Turkish LPG Association Mr Eyup Aratay eyup.aratay@ipragaz.com.tr
Best regards,
James Rockall
CEO & Managing Director
World LPG Association
jrockall@wlpga.org
Dear Colleagues,
As you know TURKIYE has been hit by devastating earthquakes reaching magnitudes of 7.7 early Monday, followed hours later by a powerful tremor of 7.6, flattening neighborhoods across the country’s south-east, and leaving countless families in dire need of help. This was the worst disaster seen in 80 years, below map shows the area impacted with about 13,5 million habitants.
More than 7,500 people have been officially declared dead and thousands more have been injured after 55 hours but the number is expected to increase much more. Thousands of buildings have been reduced to rubble. Rescuers in Turkiye are desperately combing the rubble in search of survivors after the earthquake collapsed thousands of buildings. The heavy rain and snow are hampering the rescue efforts.
Turkiye has declared a fourth level alert state. The “level 4” alarm condition includes an international call for help. Governments around the world quickly responded to Turkiye’s request for international assistance, deploying rescue teams and offers of aid. A host of countries have sent rescue workers to help the stricken region, where a colossal effort to find and free trapped civilians is underway. A cold and wet weather system, temperature dropping to -5oC at nights, is moving through the region, further hampering that challenge, it's essential to offer warmth and comfort to ensure survival for those impacted.
As Turkish LPG industry, we have witnessed material damage in our own facilities, dealer shops and autogas stations as well as houses of our employees and their families. We are doing our best to sustain our operations from the filling plants and the terminals in the region as well as supporting our people.
However, we lack especially cylinder heating and cooking equipments to support victims.
We are appealing to you to ask for your help in providing these equipments. The people impacted by the earthquake are experiencing extreme cold and have no heating tools. Unfortunately, the quantity of heaters we have in hand in Turkiye is insufficient to fulfill the needs of them. With your support, we can help prevent people from freezing in the cold and bring some hope and comfort to those who have lost so much.
We are looking forward to your support during these difficult times. Together we can make a difference in the lives of those affected by this disaster.
On behalf of Turkish LPG Industry
Eyup Aratay
Chairman, TLPGA