The death toll is expected to rise
More than 600 people have been killed after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria.
On the Syrian side of the border, the quake smashed opposition-held regions packed with some four million people who were displaced from other parts of Syria by the country’s long civil war.Raed Salah, the head of the White Helmets, the emergency organization in opposition areas, said whole neighbourhoods were collapsed in some areas. The quake, which was felt as far away as Cairo, struck a region that has been shaped by more than a decade of civil war in Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that “search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched” to the areas hit by the quake. The death toll in government-held areas of Syria climbed to 237 with more than 630 injured, according to Syrian state media. At least 120 people were killed in rebel-held areas, according to the White Helmets.
The quake heavily damaged Gaziantep’s most famed landmark, its historic castle perched atop a hill in the centre of the city. Parts of the fortresses’ walls and watch towers were levelled and other parts were heavily damaged, images from the city showed. The territory depends on a flow of aid from nearby Turkey for everything from food to medical supplies.
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