At least 7,108 deaths in Türkiye, 2,470 in Syria in Maraş earthquakes

Photo: Sergen Sezgin / AA - Hatay

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As of 06:15 AM, the death toll in Türkiye has been revised to 7,108, while 40,910 people are injured in the Maraş earthquakes, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) indicates.

AFP reports that the confirmed dead in Syria stands at 2,470 currently, totaling the death toll to 9,578. Officials from the WHO warned that the casualties could be as high as 20,000, with cold weather conditions, aftershocks, and destroyed infrastructure hindering rescue operations.

Türkiye's vice president Fuat Oktay stated earlier that 8,000 people have been pulled from under debris.

"Our search and rescue operations continue. We will continue our efforts until we have reached our last citizen stuck under the rubble," Oktay said, adding that 16,139 search and rescue teams currently work in the disaster area. 3,251 foreign rescue personnel are working in the area, with around 2,400 more on their way.

"All of our friends continue to work in the field 24 hours a day, night and day," the vice president emphasized. Yesterday, President Erdoğan declared a State of Emergency in the ten provinces hit by the earthquakes

Nonetheless, anger is mounting in Türkiye, with many in the country criticizing that the authorities' response as slow and inadequate.

''People are on the streets, and there is no shelter or heating. No water, no tents, no bread, no food. This place seems abandoned to its fate. Nor the state nor government is here. There is pain, there is anger,'' Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Mithat Sancar said while speaking to the earthquake victims in the heavily affected Hatay.

(SD/AÖ/WM)