Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: more than 25,000 deaths recorded, according to the latest reports


More than 25,000 people died in the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, according to the latest official reports released on Saturday. According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visiting the city of Sianlurfa (southeast), 21,848 bodies have been found at this stage in Turkey, while the authorities have counted 3,553 dead in Syria.

In tears, a resident of Antioch testifies to the reigning chaos at the microphone of Europe 1. “All our friends have abandoned the city. They have all left. It is no longer a livable place now. My beloved city stinks of corpses Here it was a very beautiful city, everyone got along very well, Sunnis, Alawites, Christians and Jews. The city of Antioch no longer exists.”

In the winter cold, rescuers continue to extricate living people, including children, from the rubble five days after the disaster. The WHO estimates that 23 million people in the two countries are “potentially exposed, including around five million vulnerable people” and fears a major health crisis that would cause more damage than the earthquake.

8,000 foreign rescuers

Humanitarian organizations are particularly worried about the spread of cholera, which has reappeared in Syria. The Syrian government on Friday authorized “the delivery of humanitarian aid to the whole” of the country – including areas held by the rebels – where 5.3 million people are at risk of becoming homeless according to the UN.

According to the Turkish agency in charge of natural disasters, nearly 32,000 people are mobilized for search and rescue operations, as well as more than 8,000 foreign rescuers. More than 25,000 Turkish soldiers are also in the affected areas, according to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.



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