Dhe number of deaths after the earthquakes in the Turkish-Syrian border area has risen to 20,213 in Turkey alone. More than 77,000 people were injured, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Malatya on Friday. 3,384 deaths were recently reported from Syria. At least 23,597 fatalities have now been counted in both countries, with many more feared.
Erdogan described the earthquake as one of the greatest disasters in Turkey’s history. More than 76,000 people were evacuated from the earthquake area to other provinces.
According to UN estimates, up to 5.3 million people in Syria have become homeless. As the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Syria, Sivanka Dhanapala, said in Damascus on Friday, an estimated 5.37 million people need help with accommodation across the country.
The first tremor hit the border area early Monday morning with a magnitude of 7.7. Another 7.6 magnitude tremor followed in the region at noon. According to the Turkish civil protection agency Afad, there have been more than 1,000 aftershocks since then.
People are still being saved
Rescue workers have been fighting against time ever since. With every hour that has passed since the earthquake, the chances of finding survivors under the rubble are decreasing. German rescuers managed to free a woman after around 100 hours on Friday morning. In southeast Turkey, a family of six was recovered alive after 102 hours under the rubble. The parents with their children between the ages of 15 and 24 were taken to the hospital, the state news agency Anadolu reported. A neighboring couple from the same building was rescued after 107 hours.
The rescuers cheered and clapped as they carried the woman on a stretcher to the ambulance. The woman waved to rescuers, as seen on CNN Türk. The station’s reporter burst into tears of joy. The rescue took place in the city of Iskenderun in Hatay province, which was particularly hard hit by the quake.
A six-year-old boy was also rescued from the rubble in north-west Syria. Local forces rescued little Mussa Hmeidi in the village of Janairis on Friday, to the cheers of bystanders. The child was in shock and had injuries to his face. After the success, the emergency services continued to search for the boy’s relatives.
In the province, a 21-year-old and her seven-year-old brother were also rescued alive after 107 hours, according to the coastal city of Antalya fire department involved in the rescue. A 10-year-old boy was freed in the city of Kahramanmaraş, the Israeli military said on Friday. The rescue operation lasted about an hour, after which the boy was taken to a hospital.
According to the government, more than 100,000 helpers are deployed in Turkey. They are assisted by search dogs.
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