Death toll from Turkiye-Syria earthquake crosses 45,000

Kahramanmaras/ Antakya: The earthquake that hit Syria and Turkiye has already claimed more than 45,000 lives, and the death toll is expected to rise given that 264,000 apartments in Turkiye were demolished and many people are still missing after the nation's worst modern calamity.

Three survivors were found in Turkiye on Friday, eleven days after the earthquake struck. Turkiye currently has a death toll of 39,672 whereas the neighbouring Syrian country has recorded more than 5,800 fatalities. The death toll in Syria has not changed in days.

The deceased in Syria and Turkey, many of whom were unable to get proper burial rituals due to the magnitude of the calamity, were remembered in mosques around the world on Friday during absentee funeral prayers, Reuters reported.

Domestic teams continued to search through destroyed structures on Saturday in the hopes of discovering additional people who defied the odds, despite the fact that many international rescue teams had already left the vast earthquake zone. According to experts, 24 hours after an earthquake is when most rescues take place.

The 40-year-old Hakan Yasinoglu was saved 278 hours after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake occurred on February 6 in the middle of the night in the southern province of Hatay, according to the Istanbul Fire Brigade.

Earlier, in Turkiye's historic city of Antakya, formerly known as Antioch, Osman Halebiye, 14, and Mustafa Avci, 34, were saved. Avci was connected to his parents via video call while he was being carried away, and they showed him his new baby.

“I had completely lost all hope. This is a true miracle. They gave me my son back. I saw the wreckage and I thought nobody could be saved alive from there,” his father said.

Later, in a hospital in Mersin, a tired Avci was reunited with his wife Bilge and daughter Almile.

Humanitarian agencies predict that because so much essential infrastructure was destroyed, the survivors will require assistance for months to come.

The majority of fatalities in neighbouring Syria, which has already been devastated by more than ten years of civil war, have occurred in the northwest, which is a region controlled by insurgents at war with President Bashar Assad. This conflict has complicated efforts to help those affected by the earthquake.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the sides engaged in fighting overnight for the first time since the disaster, with government forces bombing Atareb, a rebel-held town that was severely affected by the earthquake.

Hundreds of Syrians who had fled their country's civil war to Turkiye have, for the time being at least, returned to their homes in the conflict area.

Turkey and Syria have not stated how many people are still missing after the earthquake.

Growing resentment towards what they perceive as dishonest building techniques and seriously defective urban development, which led to thousands of homes and businesses collapsing, is felt by families who are still waiting to reunite with relatives in Turkiye.

The Ronesans Rezidans (Renaissance Residence) was one such structure that collapsed in Antakya, killing hundreds of people.

“It was said to be earthquake-safe, but you can see the result,” said Hamza Alpaslan, 47, whose brother had lived in the apartment block. “It’s in horrible condition. There is neither cement nor proper iron in it. It’s a real hell.”

Turkiye has ordered the detention of more than 100 people, including developers, and promised to look into anyone suspected of being responsible for the collapse of structures.

The UN launched a $400 million appeal for Syrians on Thursday in addition to a $1 billion appeal for the Turkish rescue effort.