Bitter cold in Turkey and Syria is putting rescue teams in race to find more survivors as the death toll of the devastating earthquake reached 21,726 in both countries.
Rescue workers continued to dig into the rubble for a fifth consecutive day, but hopes of finding people alive were fading amid the freezing temperatures.
Turkey Death Toll Surpasses Istanbul Earthquake in 1999
The death toll in Turkey has risen to 18,342, with the number of people injured rising to 74,242, the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) has said.
It said 75,780 quake victims have been evacuated from the quake zone in southern Turkey and that more than 121,000 personnel were involved in the rescue and relief efforts. There have been 1,509 aftershocks, it added.
A toddler and his seven-year-old brother are rescued from the debris in Hatay province 105 hours after earthquakes shake southern Türkiye pic.twitter.com/bW9phZ5fhQ
— ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) February 10, 2023
The death toll in Turkey has reached a grim milestone, exceeding the number of people killed in a 1999 earthquake in Istanbul that had remained the most devastating in the country for decades.
The highest estimates put the 1999 death toll from the magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Istanbul at about 18,000.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued to visit the country’s earthquake-hit southern region to monitor search and rescue efforts in the disaster zone. He was expected to visit Adiyaman and Malatya on Friday.
Syria Death Toll
In neighboring Syria, at least 3,384 are known to have died, with more than 5,000 others being injured.
The Syrian Health Ministry recorded 1,347 deaths and 2,295 injured, as of Thursday.
The White Helmets, a Western-funded group operating in parts of Syria that are controlled by terrorist groups, has put the figure at 2,037 deaths and 2,950 were injured. The toll is still expected to rise.
Assad Visits Aleppo
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has visited Aleppo University Hospital, his office has said on Friday.
The presidency shared images of Al-Assad and his wife Asmaa Al-Assad visiting people who were injured in the devastating earthquakes that have also swept away entire cities across Syria and Turkey.
“I promise Syrians to exert non-stop efforts in a bid to alleviate their sufferings,” the Syrian leader told Al-Manar correspondent in Aleppo.
US Excludes Syria Relief Transactions for 180 Days
Under pressure by international and local organizations, US Treasury issued a decision allowing the return of financial transactions related to earthquake relief to Syria for 180 days, except for unilateral coercive measures it imposes on the Syrian people.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) of the US Department of the Treasury stated on Thursday on its website that the ministry issued General License No. 23 for Syria, which allows for a period of 180 days all transactions related to earthquake relief that would have been prohibited by the Syrian sanctions regulations (SYSR).
Earlier on Thursday, organizations warned that of serious humanitarian crisis in Syria, which is already under harsh sanctions that hinder the delivery of aid to quake-struck areas.
Source: Agencies
