Over 11,000 dead in Turkiye - Syria earthquake

by Staff Writer 08-02-2023 | 7:14 PM

More than 11,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, according to officials. The quake is one of the strongest to hit the region in more than 100 years.

At least 8,574 people have died in Turkey, the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. At least 2,530 have been killed in Syria.

Thousands of buildings collapsed and aid agencies are particularly worried about northwestern Syria, where more than 4 million people were already relying on humanitarian assistance.

The White Helmets leading efforts to rescue people buried under rubble in rebel-held areas of earthquake-hit Syria have appealed for international help in their “race against time”.

First responders from the group that was formed a decade ago to save the lives of civilians during Syria’s civil war sprung into action early Monday when a 7.8-magnitude quake rocked Turkey and Syria.

Nearly 250 schools in Syria’s government-controlled areas have been damaged due to the earthquakes, the country’s state-run SANA news agency reported quoting education minister Darem Tabbaa.

The damaged schools are in Aleppo, Lattakia, Tartous, Hama, and Idlib, Tabbaa said, adding that 126 schools have been turned into shelters.

Rescue teams found a young Syrian refugee under the rubble of a collapsed building in the southern Turkish town of Hatay.

The workers gave the boy water from a bottle cap before pulling him out, nearly 45 hours after the first of two major earthquakes.

Pope Francis has offered his prayers for the thousands of victims of the earthquakes and called on the international community to continue to support rescue and recovery efforts.

“I am praying for them with emotion and I wanted to say that I am close to these people, to the families of the victims and everyone who is suffering from this devastating disaster,” he said.

“I thank those who are offering help and encourage everyone to show solidarity with these countries, some of which have already been battered by a long war,” he added at the end of his weekly audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican.