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Death toll from earthquake surpasses 43,000, authorities yet to announce numbers still missing
Two people were reported to have been pulled alive from the rubble in Turkey on Thursday, but such rescues have become increasingly rare. A 17-year-old girl was extracted from the ruins of a collapsed apartment block in Turkey’s southeastern Kahramanmaras province, broadcaster TRT Haber reported, 248 hours since the 7.
8 magnitude earthquake struck in the dead of night on February 6th. Footage showed her being carried away on a stretcher covered with a thermal blanket while an emergency worker held an intravenous drip.“We had prepared her grave and we asked the rescue workers to stop digging as we feared they would damage the remaining corpses under the rubble. Moments later, her voice was heard from under the ruins of the building,” Ms Kilic’s brother-in-law told broadcaster CNN Turk.The United Nations on Thursday appealed for more than $1 billion in funds for the Turkish relief operation, just two days after launching a $400 million appeal for Syrians. Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, speaking on Thursday in his first televised comments since the quake hit, said the response to the disaster required more resources than the government had available. UN aid chief Martin Griffiths, who visited Turkey last week, said the people had “experienced unspeakable heartache”, adding: “We must stand with them in their darkest hour and ensure they receive the support they need.” For families still waiting to retrieve relatives, there is growing anger over what they see as corrupt building practices and deeply flawed urban development that resulted in thousands of homes and businesses disintegrating. Turkey has promised to investigate anyone suspected of responsibility for the collapse of buildings and has ordered the detention of more than 100 suspects, including developers. Across the border in Syria, the earthquake slammed a region divided and devastated by 12 years of civil war. The Syrian government says the death toll in territory it controls is 1,414. More than 4,000 deaths have been reported in the rebel-held northwest, but rescuers say nobody has been found alive there since February 9th. The aid effort has been hampered by the conflict. Many people in the northwest feel abandoned as supplies almost invariably head to other parts of the sprawling disaster zone. Deliveries from Turkey were severed completely in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, when a route used by the United Nations was temporarily blocked. This week, Mr Assad granted approval for two additional crossings. Many survivors have fled the disaster zones, but some have decided to stay, despite the dreadful conditions. “We spend our days with bread, soup and meals as part of the aid sent by people. We don’t have a life anymore. We are afraid,” said Mustafa Akan in Adiyaman, who sleeps outdoors and stays warm by burning wood in a bucket. – Reuters
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