White Helmets chief criticises UN response to earthquakes in Syria

The head of the Syrian Civil Defence forces (White Helmets) criticised the UN's response to the earthquakes in Syria and said help to the area is "too little too late". 

Making his comments after UN aid chief Martin Griffiths visited the Bab al Hawa crossing, Raed Saleh, who heads the White Helmets, called on Griffiths to immediately re-open cross-border routes without waiting for UN Security Council authorisation.

"Since the moment the earthquake struck seven days ago, we have been appealing to the UN to send urgent assistance to aid our rescue operations in northwest Syria. For days these calls went unheeded, and during this time, countless lives have been needlessly lost," Saleh said in a statement. 

"This visit is too little, too late. The UN's failure to act quickly to save Syrians live in the face of a humanitarian crisis is utterly shameful and should be a stain on its conscience."