First aid reaches Syria rebel-held areas since quake: border official

An aid convoy reached rebel-held northwestern Syria Thursday, the first since a devastating earthquake that has killed thousands, an official at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing told AFP.

The 7.8-magnitude quake early Monday has killed nearly 20,000 people in Turkey and war-ravaged Syria, according to officials and medics in the two countries, flattening entire neighbourhoods.

"The first UN aid convoy entered today," said Mazen Alloush, media officer at the crossing.

An AFP correspondent saw six trucks passing through the crossing from Turkey, carrying tents and hygiene products.

Alloush noted the delivery had been expected before Monday's quake, but said: "It could be considered an initial response from the United Nations, and it should be followed, as we were promised, with bigger convoys to help our people."

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement the delivery includes blankets, mattresses, tents and "basic relief items... to cover the needs of at least 5,000 people".

"We are working very closely with authorities to support in any way we can and hope that aid will quickly reach those most impacted," said IOM head Antonio Vitorino.

But the White Helmets rescue group that operates in rebel-held areas said they were disappointed by the aid, which they said was part of "routine" deliveries.

"This is certainly not special aid and equipment for search and rescue teams," they said in a statement on Twitter.

"This makes us very disappointed at a time when we are desperate for such equipment to help us save lives from under the rubble."

- 'Race against time' -

The White Helmets had earlier appealed for international help in their "race against time".

The UK government on Thursday said it would provide "at least an additional £3 million (about $3.6 million) funding, bringing our total to £3.8m" to support the White Helmets.

"The funding will go to support recovery projects including assessing building safety, reopening roads and reconnecting utilities," it said in a statement.

The aid delivery mechanism from Turkey into rebel-held areas of Syria through the Bab al-Hawa crossing is the only way UN assistance can reach civilians without passing through areas controlled by Syrian government forces.

While the crossing itself was not affected by the quake, the road leading to it was damaged, temporarily disrupting operations, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday.

UN special envoy Geir Pedersen said Thursday that the emergency response in Syria should "not be politicised" following "one of the most catastrophic earthquakes the region has seen in about a century".

He told reporters in Geneva that the UN had been "assured today that we would be able to get through the first assistance".

Planes carrying aid from the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Iran and other countries have landed since Monday in Syrian government-controlled airports in Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia.

Rescuers have been searching for survivors still trapped under rubble.

The UN's resident Syria coordinator El-Mostafa Benlamlih told AFP on Wednesday that no fresh deliveries of humanitarian aid had been sent to the rebel-held northwest from within Syria in about three weeks.

He said the UN has some stocks in the area -- enough to feed 100,000 people for one week.

Speaking from Damascus, Benlamlih said the destruction in government-held provinces "is huge".

"But we know also that the destruction in the northwest is huge and we need to get there to assess."