The death toll from the earthquake of magnitude 7.4 on the open Richter scale registered on Monday in southern Turkey, near the Syrian border, has risen to more than 650, according to data provided by the authorities of both countries and the ‘white helmets’.
The Turkish vice-president, Fuad Oktay, has indicated that at least 284 people have died and more than 2,300 have been injured because of the earthquake and has specified that the data correspond to the count of damages in ten provinces of the country, according to the Turkish state news agency, Anatolia.
The governor of the province of Kahramanmaras, Omer Faruk Coskun, stressed that «it is not possible to give an exact number of dead and injured at the moment» and added that «the damage is serious». The earthquake had its epicenter in the district of Pazarcik, located in this province.
In this line, the mayor of Kahramanmaras, Hayrettin Gungor, has recognized that the situation is a «disaster» and added that the authorities «are on the ground with all their capabilities». «Our request to citizens is not to crowd and not to disrupt traffic. We need to help the (search and rescue) teams,» he argued.
For his part, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told a press conference that the Turkish government has declared the highest level of alarm, which includes a request for international assistance, and has sent numerous search and rescue teams to the earthquake zones.
The country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has conveyed his «best wishes» to all citizens who have been «affected by the earthquake (…) and which has been felt in many parts» of the country. «We also coordinated the works started after the earthquake. We hope to overcome this disaster together as soon as possible and with as little damage as possible, and we continue with our work,» he said on his Twitter profile.
The earthquake has also left around 240 people dead in the areas of Syria controlled by the authorities, according to data from the Syrian Ministry of Health, which noted that around 640 people have been injured. Most of the victims reside in the provinces of Latakia, Aleppo, Hama and Tartus.
In view of the situation, the Syrian Defense Ministry has announced the mobilization of all its units and institutions to provide aid to the victims, according to a statement carried by the Syrian state news agency SANA. The country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, has also headed an emergency government meeting to analyze the situation.
To these figures must be added about 150 dead and more than 340 wounded in the areas controlled by the rebels in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, in the northwest of the Arab country, according to the Syrian Civil Defense, known as ‘white helmets’, through its Twitter account, where it has lamented «the catastrophe and devastation» caused by the earthquake.
«The earthquake in northwest Syria has killed 147 people and injured more than 340. The toll could rise as many families are still trapped. Our teams are on the ground searching for survivors and removing the dead from the rubble,» he said. «Houses, buildings and residential areas completely destroyed. Urgent support is needed for response efforts,» he said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
