The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria exceeded 28,000. Although the golden time for rescue (72 hours) has long passed, news of the rescue of survivors continues.
According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency and Britain’s BBC, the number of deaths on the 11th (local time), the fifth day of the earthquake, was 24,617 in Turkey and 3,575 in Syria. There are 85,000 wounded in both countries. Martin Griffiths, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian and Emergency Relief, told Sky News in the UK that the number of deaths would likely exceed 50,000.
100 hours have passed since the earthquake, but news of miraculous rescues of survivors continues. According to Anadolu, in the Hatay region, rescuers who detected a presence in the rubble of a building rescued a 7-month-old baby 140 hours after the earthquake. A pregnant woman and her family were also rescued in the same area. In Antakya, news continued, such as the rescue of a 2-month-old baby.
The Korean Emergency Relief Team also rescued three people, a 65-year-old woman, a 17-year-old man, and a 51-year-old woman, on the same day on the 11th. A total of 8 survivors have been rescued by our relief team so far.
However, chaos continues in the earthquake-stricken areas, including looting and clashes between local factions. On the 11th, the German rescue team and the Austrian army stopped the rescue operation due to the news that shootings had occurred in some areas. Only after the Turks intervened did the Austrians resume their work. German rescuers are also planning to resume operations after authorities in Turkey have stabilized the situation. At least 48 people were arrested for looting on the 11th after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkiye warned that looting would be punished, Anadolu news agency reported.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.