The death toll in the strong earthquakes that hit southeastern Turkey and neighboring Syria this Monday rises to more than 9,500, according to a new provisional balance made public this Wednesday by the authorities.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is heading to the south of the country, where he will visit the most affected areas. Anadalou Agency indicates that it will inspect search and rescue efforts in the provinces of Kahramanmaras and Hatay.
Turkish emergency teams managed to rescue a Syrian mother and her two-year-old daughter this morning, 44 hours after they were buried under the rubble of a destroyed building in southern Turkey.
According to the Turkish state news agency, Anatolia, after hearing cries for help, the teams reached Imed Sabha, a 33-year-old Syrian mother, and her daughter, Vafe, in one of the many destroyed buildings in the city of Kahramanmaras, close to the Syrian border.
In Syria, residents found a crying newborn, still connected by umbilical cord to her already dead mother. The baby was the only family member to survive a building collapse in the small town of Jinderis, family members told The Associated Press.
The Turkish Emergency and Disaster Management Authority said that around 60,200 members of search and rescue teams, including experts from more than 70 countries and non-governmental organizations, are working on search and rescue and debris removal missions, in the framework of a device that has more than 100 aircraft and helicopters deployed.
The first foreign rescue teams arrived on Tuesday. The European Union (EU) has deployed 1,185 rescue teams and 79 search dogs to Turkey from 19 member states, including France, Germany and Greece.
A South Korean military transport plane left for Turkey today with 118 rescuers, equipment and army supplies, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.
Also today, Australia announced the deployment of more than 70 specialists to Turkey to assist with search and rescue efforts.
Bad weather makes rescue operations difficult and further complicates the situation for some of the survivors, who suffer from cold and have to resort to makeshift fireplaces.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that 23 million people are “potentially exposed, including some five million vulnerable people”, after having already mentioned that it fears “balances eight times higher than the initial figures”.
The quake also caused the collapse of a total of 5,775 buildings, according to authorities.
Source: TSF
