Turkey’s disaster management agency said on February 9 that the death toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria rose to more than 15,000, as more bodies were pulled from the rubble of collapsed houses in the affected areas.
The agency said 12,391 people were confirmed dead in Turkey after an earthquake and a series of aftershocks struck in the early hours of February 6, which toppled thousands of buildings in southeastern Turkey. The death toll from the earthquake in Turkey, Syria is over 15,000 which is quite tormenting. Across the border in Syria, another 2,902 people were reported killed.
Rescue Teams are pulling living people from damaged buildings
Rescuers continued to pull survivors out of damaged homes, but hope began to fade amid freezing temperatures for more than three days after the quake struck.
With the death toll confirmed to be approaching 12,000, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the particularly hard-hit Hatay province, where more than 3,300 people were killed and entire neighborhoods were destroyed. Residents criticized the government’s efforts, saying rescue teams were delayed.
“It is not possible to prepare for this kind of disaster. We will not leave any of our citizens without care,” Erdogan said. He also hit back at critics, saying that “dishonest people” were spreading “lies and slander” about the government’s actions.
Rescue Teams expanded their helping hands
Meanwhile, rescue teams in Turkey and Syria searched for signs of life in the wreckage. Teams from more than two dozen countries have joined the effort, along with thousands of local emergency workers. But the scale of devastation caused by the earthquake and its powerful tremors was so vast and spread over such a large area that many people were still waiting for help.
