The toll, still provisional, now exceeds 5,000 dead in Turkey and Syria
The toll, still provisional, in Syria and Turkey has now exceeded 5,000 victims. Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said Tuesday morning that 3,419 people had died in his country, in addition to the 1,602 people reported in Syria.
Istanbul sends 13,000 rescuers to earthquake zone
Over the past few hours, nearly 13,000 rescuers, including many volunteers, have left Istanbul to go to the disaster areas.
They go in particular to the province of Hatay, particularly affected by earthquakes.
The difficulty of bringing aid to Syria, already ravaged by war
Around 4 million people in northern Syria were already displaced and dependent on humanitarian aid due to the war, according to UNICEF spokesman James Elder.
“Syria remains a gray area from a legal and diplomatic point of view,” observes Marc Schakal, head of the Syria program at Médecins sans Frontières.
He fears that local and international NGOs will be overwhelmed in a country ravaged by twelve years of civil war.
Almost all humanitarian aid is sent there from Turkey through Bab al-Hawa, the only crossing point, obtained by United Nations resolution. Experts doubt whether the old crossings can be reopened, despite the urgency.
Footballer Christian Atsu was pulled out of the rubble alive
Christian Atsu, a former Chelsea and Newcastle player, was found alive after spending long hours under the rubble.
The announcement has been made sur Radyo Gol by the manager of his club, Hatayspor.
“Our sporting director, Taner Savut, is unfortunately still under the rubble. Hatay has been deeply affected. We are heading towards the end of the most dangerous hours,” he said.
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Fire rages in quake-hit port
Associated Press reports that a fire in the port of İskenderun on the Mediterranean Sea continues for the second day in a row. It was declared during the first earthquake on Monday.
Footage shows thick black smoke above the burning containers, while local media say a Turkish Coast Guard vessel is trying to put out the blaze.
Turkey earthquake death toll rises to 3,381
According to Afad, Turkey’s official relief organization, the death toll from the earthquakes that hit the country on Monday has risen to 3,381. Until now, the country counted 2921 disappeared on its territory.
In Syria, in the absence of a new official communication, the balance sheet remains for the time being at 1,500 dead.
This brings the total number of victims in the two countries to 4,890.
WHO expects death toll close to 20,000
In the aftermath of the violent earthquakes that hit Syria and Turkey, the human toll continues to increase. According to the public body for disaster management (Afad), more than 4,300 people have already died.
Asked by AFP, Catherine Smallwood, an emergency situation manager at the WHO European office, expects an even more dramatic total.
“We often see numbers eight times higher than the initial numbers,” she said. According to Guardianthe number of deaths could thus jump to 20,000 disappearances.
Rescue operations continued throughout the night
It is a race against the clock which has started in the cities affected by the violent earthquakes on Monday.
In Turkey and northern Syria, rescuers scrambled to extricate survivors, struggling in the cold, pouring rain or snow, sometimes with their bare hands, to save every life that could be saved.
The bad weather that hovers over Anatolia complicates the task of rescue.
A final official report reports more than 4,300 dead
According to a latest provisional assessment of disaster management (Afad), more than 4,300 people have died, including 2,921 in Turkey and more than 1,440 in Syria.
The bad weather that hovers over Anatolia complicates the task of the rescuers, who all night tried to get out any survivors from the rubble.
The Emirates pledge $13 million in aid to Syria
The United Arab Emirates on Monday pledged aid valued at around $13.6 million to Syria after the earthquake. Emirati Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has “ordered the dispatch of urgent humanitarian aid to those affected in Syria”, the official WAM news agency reported.
New 5.6 magnitude earthquake reported in central Turkey
A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck central Turkey early on Tuesday, reports the European Seismological Watch Center.
International aid is organized, dozens of countries mobilized
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday declared seven days of national mourning in Turkey, after the earthquakes who have at this stage made a provisional toll of more than 3,800 dead in the country and in Syria. After a “historic” drama, “the worst disaster since 1939” in Turkey according to Erdoganmany countries are getting organized to provide international aid.
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Syria promises UN to deliver aid to ‘all Syrians’
The Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, relaying Damascus’ request for aid after the devastating earthquake, assured the UN on Monday that this aid would go “to all Syrians throughout the territory”, part of which is not under government control.
In Turkey, at least 2,921 dead and 15,834 injured
The violent earthquake that shook southeastern Turkey on Monday left 2,921 dead and 15,834 injured, the official Turkish relief organization Afad announced on Tuesday morning.
This new count brings the total death toll in Turkey and Syria to 4,365, in a series of earthquakes among the most violent to hit the region for almost a century.
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Welcome to this live dedicated to monitoring the evolution of the situation in Turkey and Syria, countries hit by two earthquakes on Monday.
