Ankara: The death toll has increased to more than 19,000 after more bodies were removed from the debris of collapsed houses in the area affected by the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Three days after earthquakes rocked Turkey and Syria, thousands of people made homeless gathered near a camp, crying out for food and water in the bitter cold.
Meanwhile, rescue workers were searching for life buried in the pile of debris and many more survivors were pulled out today. In the Turkish city of Antakya, a large number of people ran in front of a truck distributing baby coats and other items to help. Emergency crews working overnight in Antakya city rescued a girl named Hajal Guner from the ruins of a building and the girl’s father Soner Guner, news agency IHA reported.
As Soner was being taken away in an ambulance, the rescue team told him that his daughter was alive and they were taking her to the same field hospital for treatment. “I love you all,” Soner told the rescuers in a very weak voice. In Diyarbakir, east of Antakya, rescuers pulled an injured woman alive from a collapsed building in the morning, the DHA news agency reported. Three people next to the woman, however, were found dead in the debris.
Meanwhile, a UN aid truck arrived in Turkey on Thursday morning in north-west Syria, held by rebels since the earthquake. Lakhs of people have also become homeless amidst the loss of life and property due to the earthquake. In Antakya, a woman named Serp Arslan was found looking with moist eyes at the rubble of the building under which her mother and brother are buried. Serp said that the system has started work from Wednesday to remove heavy debris here.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is scheduled to visit the quake-hit provinces of Gaziantep, Osmania and Kilis on Thursday amid criticism of the government’s slow response. Erdoğan said on Thursday that the death toll in his country had exceeded 14,000 while more than 63,000 were injured.
