The latest death toll from Turkey’s disaster management agency, AFAD, brings to 29,605 the number of people killed in Monday’s earthquake, bringing the total to almost 35,000 after adding the more than 5,200 dead in Syria.
In Syria, according to the latest death toll published by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 5,273 people have died, bringing the total death toll to 34,878.
Meanwhile, rescue efforts continue. Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay explained that there are 32,071 «unsung heroes» who continue to work on the rescue. «They have trained dogs that are very important in the search. Technology is also important. However, sad news keeps coming in. It is a catastrophe, the catastrophe of the century,» he said, according to the Turkish newspaper ‘Hürriyet’.
This Sunday the Minister of Education, Mahmut Özer, announced the suspension of classes in the ten provinces most affected by the earthquake at least until March 1. The measure affects the provinces of Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Adana, Osmaniye, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Malatya and Kilis.
At the judicial level, the suspension of trials for a period of two months in these same ten provinces was announced on Sunday. «The Prosecutor’s Office is working intensively for the opening and execution of judicial investigations and the arrest of responsible suspects,» Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said.
More than a hundred people have already been arrested for their involvement in the construction of defective buildings that would have aggravated the consequences of the earthquake. This Sunday the builders Yavuz Karakus and Sevilay Karakus, responsible for many of the destroyed buildings in Adiyaman, were arrested at Istanbul Airport. They were scheduled to fly to Georgia.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
