Death toll crosses 7,900 in Turkey-Syria earthquake, thousands left injured
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria on Monday has left more than 7,900 people dead and tens of thousands wounded, according to multiple reports. Thousands of buildings collapsed in both nations causing a widespread devastation.
The harsh weather conditions are severely endangering people and making rescue operations more difficult.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake, one of the biggest to impact the area in more than 100 years, occurred 24.1 kilometres (14.9 miles) under the surface in Turkey's Gaziantep province, 23 kilometres (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi.
The White Helmets, a volunteer group in Syria also known as Syria Civil Defense, has updated the number of fatalities on Tuesday in opposition-held regions of northwest Syria to 1,020. In regions under government control, at least 812 people have died, according to Syrian official media. The number of fatalities in Syria now stands at least at 1,832.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said that Turkey's current death toll was 5,434. Minister Koca claimed that there have been at least 31,777 injuries in Turkey. In both nations, there have been at least 35,626 injuries.
Meanwhile, a number of heart wrenching images of survivors surfaced on social media Tuesday. Following Monday's enormous earthquake, a newborn girl has been rescued from the ruins of her house in northern Syria.
When she was discovered, her umbilical chord was still connected to her mother, a relative told AFP news agency. It's believed that her mother passed very soon after giving her birth. The 10 provinces impacted by the deadly earthquakes in southern Turkey have been declared a disaster zone by President Recep Tayyip Erdoan, imposing a three-month state of emergency, as reported by Reuters.
Countries from across the world have pledged support while some have already sent rescue teams help find those still trapped under the rubble.
