The number is expected to rise after hundreds of collapsed buildings in many cities became graves for those who were sleeping in homes when the quake struck early Monday morning.
In the Turkish city of Antioch, dozens of corpses were placed in rows, some covered with blankets, and others placed in body bags on the ground in front of a hospital.
“My wife doesn’t speak Turkish, and I can’t see well. We have to uncover all faces. We need help,” said an unnamed man.
Families in Syria and southern Turkey spent three days in freezing weather, as exhausted rescue workers tried to pull victims from under the rubble.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a visit to the quake zone, said operations were now proceeding “normally” and pledged to provide shelter for all those affected.
Earlier, a state of emergency was declared in 10 provinces, with army forces deployed to assist in relief to the city of Kahramanmaraş, to inspect the damage left by the earthquake, as well as rescue and relief efforts.
Turkish authorities say about 13.5 million people have been affected in an area of about 450 km, from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east.
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