Schools reopen in three quake-hit provinces

Hundreds of thousands of students have returned to school in three provinces that were relatively less affected by the massive earthquakes.

İstanbul

Schools reopen in three quake-hit provinces

Photo: AA

Click to read the article in Turkish

Schools reopened today (March 1) in three provinces affected by last month's earthquakes — Diyarbakır, Urfa and Kilis, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.

In Diyarbakır, a city of 1.7 million people, over 478,000 students and 24,316 teachers returned to schools.

In Urfa, schools reopened after repair works. The city's governor, Salih Ayhan, and provincial director of education, Fevzi Kurt, attended a ceremony in a school in the Haliliye district.

In Kilis, about 52,000 students returned to school. Mehmet Emin Akkurt, the provincial director of education, said the schools were opened after the fixing of minor problems.

Also, teachers held events at schoolyards to provide psychosocial support for students and eliminate claustrophobia, said the official.

About 300 students coming from other quake-hit provinces also started school, he added.

The earthquakes

On February 6, two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 struck the southern city of Maraş. The first quake in the Pazarcık district at 4.17 a.m. was followed by the second one in Elbistan about nine hours later.

The quakes affected 11 cities in Türkiye's south and southeast, as well as Syria's northern parts.

The official death toll from the quakes stands at over 45,000 and is expected to increase further, as over 160,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, according to government figures.

Nearly two million people have been displaced due to the earthquakes.

(AÖ/VK)

Origin

BIA News Desk