Jandaris, Syria – The earthquakes that struck northwestern Syria and southern Turkey caused severe damage, not only to residential buildings but to the economic sector as well.
With many commercial and industrial facilities reduced to rubble, northwest Syria has witnessed visible stagnation in its commercial sector, along with a steep increase in prices for basic goods.
The situation was exacerbated by a halt to the transport of goods across the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, the main economic outlet for the region, in the first days after the earthquake.
Mahmoud Joulaq, a bakery supervisor in Jandaris, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the quake-stricken areas of northwestern Syria are now facing a bread crisis after bakeries closed down and the import of flour from across the border in Turkey came to a halt.
Joulaq recounts that when the earthquake hit, all his employees at the bakery quickly left to check on their families.
“We were forced to shut down until the next morning, when only two other employees returned. The rest were trying to pull their families out from under the rubble,” Joulaq said.
