February 6 earthquakes: Identities of 16 rescued children still unknown

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The Ministry of Family and Social Services announced that out of 1914 children who have been pulled out of debris in February 6 earthquakes, 1808 have been handed over to their families.

According to the announcement made a total of 1914 unattended children have been registered following the February 6 earthquakes and that 1808 children were handed over to their families after checking and confirming of their identities. 

71 children have been taken under protection in child welfare services and the identities of 16 of them could not yet be determined, according to the Ministry. 

While the ongoing hospital treatment of 26 children is being closely monitored, 9 children recorded by the Ministry have died during their hospital treatment in the aftermath of the quakes.

The Ministry also announced that deaths of 514 children were recorded as a result of notices made to the Disaster Management Child Module after the February 6 earthquakes.

February 6 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, where over 5,000 people have died.

Türkiye's death toll from the quakes stands at over 50 thousand 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/PE)