Upon arrival, Scholz condemned the Iranian strikes on Israel
Syrian civil defence volunteer Salam Mahmoud had only one thought when she saw the collapsed buildings after the devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey.
“All I could think about was how can I get the children out? If there is someone alive, how can I reach them?,” the 24-year-old said.
Mahmoud is one of around 300 women in the Syria Civil Defence, also called the White Helmets, a rescue service of more than 3,000 people which operates in insurgent-held northwestern Syria.
She said some people in the village of Millis, where she deployed the day of the disaster, objected at first to the sight of women taking part in rescue efforts.
“When we first got to the site... we were criticised a lot, and were told that we shouldn’t have come down,” she said, describing socially conservative views in the area about the role of women.
“But all of that shortly switched from negative to positive. We saved as many people as we could, met people’s expectations and responded to women and children, who were under the rubble,” she said.
Getting home that evening, Mahmoud said she couldn’t sleep. “All night I was thinking: could there still be children calling for us, could there still be women screaming out.”
The earthquake has killed more than 4,500 people in northwest Syria, according to local reports cited by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance. It killed more than 45,000 in neighbouring Turkey.
Mahmoud has volunteered with the Civil Defence for five years. Her role includes providing primary health care for women.
Upon arrival, Scholz condemned the Iranian strikes on Israel
Police have named the assailant as 40-year-old itinerant man Joel Cauchi
Family expresses condolences to the victims
The airline has already suspended flights to and from Tehran until April 18
All flights at Egyptian airports are according to the usual schedules, except for some flights heading to countries that have closed their airspace, said the govt
Air India and Vistara have announced avoidance of Iranian airspace and are taking longer flight paths for their Europe and US operations
Israel has a multi-layered air defence system that has intercepted thousands of rockets since it first went into operation in 2011
Police said there was no evidence to suggest Joel Cauchi was 'driven by any particular motivation, ideology or otherwise'