Earthquake death toll over 45,000, still people rescued from rubble

AFPRescue workers at work in Turkey’s Hatay province

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 21:51

The death toll from the strong earthquakes in Turkey and Syria last Monday has risen to 45,000, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu reports.

39,672 are registered in Turkey. In Syria, where information is lacking, the death toll has been at least 5,800 for days. The death toll is expected to continue to rise.

Most of the victims recovered from the rubble have died. Yet occasionally someone is found who is still alive. A 45-year-old man was pulled alive from the rubble in the badly affected province of Hatay 278 hours after the quakes (more than eleven days).

This is reported by the Istanbul fire brigade, which is active in the disaster area. The corps worked with several rescue teams to save the man, who was taken to hospital.

Earlier, a 14-year-old boy and a 34-year-old man were also rescued in the historic city of Antakya, and yesterday a 12-year-old boy and a 42-year-old woman were also pulled alive from the rubble.

Suburbs shelled

According to experts, most rescues after an earthquake occur in the first 24 hours after the disaster, but there are victims who survive for a long time. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, a girl was found alive after 15 days.

In Syria, due to the high number of victims, it is not always possible to bury the bodies according to the regulations. Most of the dead there are in the northwest, an area occupied by rebels fighting against President Assad’s forces. This conflict complicates rescue work and assistance.

The warring factions fought again tonight for the first time since the earthquakes. Government troops shelled the outskirts of Atareb, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The city has been hit hard by the earthquakes.

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