After escalated fighting, the entire city of Aleppo has been left without running water.
Last month, the electricity transmission station that pumped water to the eastern and western parts of the city was struck, leaving the area without running water, according to UNICEF. Authorities were able to restore an alternative power line soon after, but less than 24 hours later, those lines were damaged amid the fighting.
Now 2 million people haven’t had access to running water for four days, according to UNICEF.
“Children and families in Aleppo are facing a catastrophic situation,” Hanaa Singer, UNICEF representative in Syria, said in a statement. “Getting clean water running again cannot wait for the fighting to stop. Children’s lives are in serious danger.”
Compounding the situation is the fact that these cuts have come amid a heat wave and residents may have no choice but to use contaminated water sources. That, in turn, raises risks for developing waterborne diseases.
Aleppo faced similar grave risks last summer after Al Qaeda’s Nusra Front closed the city’s main water station to government and insurgent-held areas, Reuters reported.
Desperate residents turned to untreated well water, which comes with a host of health risks, including diarrheal diseases and Hepatitis A.
There were a record 1,700 Hepatitis A cases reported in one week alone last year, according to UNICEF.