Earthquake death toll climbs to over 4,300 across Turkey and Syria
The confirmed body count from the powerful earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria has risen to over 4,300 as rescue workers contended with dangerous aftershocks including a 5.5-magnitude quake on Tuesday morning.
More survivors were pulled from the rubble overnight, bringing hope for families and search crews who have had to concede time is running out to get to every person known to be trapped under piles of tangled metal and concrete.
Bitterly cold temperatures could reduce the time frame that rescuers have to save trapped survivors, said Dr Steven Godby, an expert in natural hazards at Nottingham Trent University. The difficulty of working in areas beset by civil war would further complicate rescue efforts, he said.
Meteorology engineer and disaster management specialist Mikdat Kadıoglu told Turkish media that the general "golden" rule was that survivors could live through a 72-hour rescue window.
This time because of the severe weather, “they might only have 24 hours”.
In Turkey alone, more than 5,600 buildings were destroyed, authorities said. Scores of people may be buried under each of those buildings.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said 224 buildings in northwestern Syrian were destroyed and at least 325 were damaged, including aid warehouses.
In the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, rescuers pulled two children alive from the rubble, and one could be seen lying on a stretcher on the snowy ground. Turkish broadcaster CNN Turk said a woman was pulled out alive in Gaziantep after a rescue dog detected her.
In Adana, 20 or so people, some in emergency rescue jackets, used power saws atop the concrete mountain of a collapsed building to open up space for any survivors to climb out or be rescued.
"I don't have the strength anymore," one survivor could be heard calling out from beneath the rubble of another building in Adana as rescue workers tried to reach him, said Muhammet Fatih Yavuz, a local resident.
In Diyarbakir, hundreds of rescue workers and civilians formed lines across a huge mound of wreckage, passing down broken concrete pieces and household belongings as they searched for trapped survivors.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said such a disaster could hit "once in a hundred years" and that his country should be prepared for the death toll to rise.
Mr Oktay also said some 145 aftershocks have been registered following the deadly quake overnight, with three that were larger than 6.0 magnitude.
The death toll has risen to 2,921, Turkey's relief agency AFAD said on Tuesday. The new count brings the total death toll in Turkey and neighbouring Syria to more than 4,300 people.
At least 2,921 people were killed in 10 Turkish provinces, with nearly 16,000 injured, according to Turkish authorities.
In government-held areas of Syria, there were 656 confirmed deaths, with some 1,400 people injured, according to the Health Ministry. In the country's rebel-held northwest, groups that operate there said at least 450 people died, with many hundreds injured.
International assistance arrives
On Tuesday, British rescue workers and emergency medical crews are expected to hep the search efforts using equipment and detection dogs.
A number of other countries joined the expanding international relief effort, including the United Arab Emirates which will set up a field hospital in Turkey and Qatar which was sending rescuers and emergency supplies.
In a joint statement, High Representative Josep Borrell and the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic said teams have been mobilised from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania to support the first responders on the ground.
While most of the international aid was headed for Turkey, Russia said it also planned to send assistance directly to its close ally Syria. The UK also said it was in contact with the United Nations about getting support to victims in Syria.
