Rescue efforts in earthquake-hit Turkey are winding down, nearly two weeks after the country's deadliest modern disaster struck, with many praying only for bodies to mourn.
The head of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority , Yunus Sezer, said the search and rescue efforts would largely end tonight.The toll is expected to soar, with some 345,000 apartments in Turkey now known to have been destroyed, and many still missing."Would you pray to find a dead body? We do ... to deliver the body to the family," said bulldozer operator Akin Bozkurt as his machine clawed at the rubble of a destroyed building in the town of Kahramanmaras.
"No one is alive," said Mujdat Erdogan, a member of AFAD, his uniform and face covered in dust."I don't think we can rescue people anymore." "We heard shouts when we were digging today an hour ago. When we find people who are alive we are always happy," Atay Osmanov, a member of the rescue team, told Reuters.Workers asked for complete silence and for everyone to crouch or sit as the teams climbed to the top of the rubble of the building where the family was found to listen for any more sounds using an electronic detector.
In Syria, which has reported more than 5,800 deaths, the World Food Programme said authorities in the northwest of the country were blocking access to the area.
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