Families in southern Turkey and Syria spent a second night in the freezing cold Wednesday as overwhelmed rescuers raced to pull people from the rubble two days after a massive earthquake that killed nearly 10,000 people.
‘Worst earthquake ever’
In Turkey, dozens of bodies, some covered in blankets and sheets and others in body bags, were lined up on the ground outside a hospital in Hatay province.
A doll lies on the ground near the site of a collapsed mosque, following an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, February 7.— Reuters
Many in the disaster zone had slept in their cars or in the streets under blankets, fearful of going back into buildings shaken by the 7.8 magnitude tremor, already Turkey’s deadliest since 1999 — that hit in the early hours of Monday.
Turkey quake death count
Rescuers there and in neighbouring Syria warned that the death toll would keep rising as some survivors said help had yet to arrive.
With the scale of the disaster becoming ever more apparent, the death toll rose above 7,100 in Turkey. In Syria, already devastated by 11 years of war, the confirmed toll climbed to more than 2,500 overnight, according to the Syrian government and a rescue service operating in the rebel-held northwest.
A man reacts as the body of his baby pulled out from the rubble, is taken away by a Syrian White Helmet rescue worker, in the town of Harim in Syria´s rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Turkey, on February 8, 2023.— AFP
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated the death toll to go up to 23 million.
Rescue workers pulled a newborn baby girl from the ruins of a building in northwest Syria that had been demolished by an earthquake on Monday. — AFP
A woman reacts while embracing another person, near rubble in Hatay, Turkey, February 7.— Reuters
Syrian girl stands amidst debris from a collapsed building on February 7, 2023, in the town of Jandairis.— AFP
A Syrian man carries the body of a child after it was recovered from the rubble of a building on February 7 in the town of Jandairis.— AFP
Syrian men transport casualties in the back of a pickup truck on February 7 in the town of Jandairis, in the rebel-held part of Aleppo province. — AFP
Earthquake survivors gather to collect supplies at a diaper distribution in Hatay on February 7. — AFP
A man reacts as people search for survivors through the rubble in Diyarbakir. — AFP
A man carries the body of his baby pulled out from the rubble in the town of Harim in Syria´s rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Turkey, on February 8. — AFP
A Syrian man cries over the body of his lifeless child in Jindayris on February 7. — AFP
A girl reacts to the earthquake while walking among a crowd.— AFP/file
People react as they stand near the site of a collapsed building in Diyarbakir, Turkey February 8, 2023.— Reuters