More than 45,000 people have been killed in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and some 264,000 apartments in Turkey are feared destroyed and many are still missing in the country’s worst modern disaster.
Three survivors were pulled from the rubble in Turkey on Friday, eleven days after the earthquake. Turkey’s death toll stands at 39,672, while neighboring Syria has reported more than 5,800 deaths. Syria’s toll hasn’t changed for days.
Mosques around the world held absentee funeral prayers on Friday for the dead in Turkey and Syria, many of whom could not receive full burial rites given the magnitude of the disaster.
While many international rescue teams have left the huge quake zone, domestic teams continued to search through flattened buildings on Saturday, defying barriers and hoping to find survivors. Experts say that most rescue operations take place in the 24 hours following an earthquake.
Hakan Yasinoglu, in his 40s, was rescued 278 hours after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck late at night on February 6 in the southern province of Hatay, the Istanbul Fire Brigade said.
Earlier, 14-year-old Osman Halebiye and 34-year-old Mustafa Avcı were rescued in the historic Turkish city of Antakya, known in ancient times as Antioch. As Avicii was taken away, she was placed on a video call with her parents, who showed her their newborn baby.
“I had completely lost hope. It is a true miracle. They gave me my son back. I saw the wreckage and realized that no one could be rescued from there.”
An exhausted Avcı was later reunited with his wife Bilge and daughter Almıl at a hospital in Mersin.
Aid organizations say survivors will need help for months to come after the destruction of so much vital infrastructure.
In neighboring Syria, already torn apart by more than a decade of civil war, a large number of deaths have occurred in the northwest, an area controlled by rebels who are at war with President Bashar al-Assad – a conflict that has There are complex efforts to help people affected by the earthquake.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday that the two sides fought overnight for the first time since the disaster, with government forces shelling the outskirts of the rebel-held town of Atreb, badly hit by the quake.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Thousands of Syrians who took refuge in Turkey from their country’s civil war have returned to their homes in the war zone – at least for now.
anger grows
Neither Turkey nor Syria has said how many people are still missing after the earthquake.
For families still in Turkey waiting to repatriate relatives, anger is mounting over what they see as corrupt construction practices and deeply flawed urban development, resulting in thousands of homes and businesses being shattered.
One such building was the Roneson Residences (Renaissance Residence), which toppled in Antioch, killing hundreds.
“It was said to be earthquake-safe, but you can see the results,” said Hamza Alpslan, 47, whose brother lived in the apartment block. “It is in terrible condition. It has neither cement nor proper iron. It is a real hell.”
Turkey has promised to investigate anyone responsible for the buildings’ collapse and ordered the detention of more than 100 suspects, including developers.
The United Nations on Thursday appealed for more than $1 billion in funding for Turkish relief operations, and has launched an appeal for $400 million for the Syrian people.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)