Turkey ends earthquake rescue efforts except in two provinces

Turkey has suspended rescue efforts in all but two of the strongest earthquakes in the past week that killed tens of thousands today.

“In many of our areas, search and rescue operations have stopped. They continue in the area of ​​Kahramanmaras and Hatay, “the head of the agency Yunus Sezer told reporters in Ankara. The worst of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6 occurred in Kahramanmaras.

The confirmed death toll in Turkey from the earthquake has reached 40,689, said Yunus Sezer, head of the national emergency agency Afas. The increase is 47 more than the figure given on Saturday evening and a smaller increase than previous updates.

Sezer told reporters in Ankara that search and rescue operations in nine of the eleven districts affected by the earthquake have ended. Rescue operations are continuing in Kahramanmaras, the most affected area, and in Hatay, one of the hardest-hit areas.

“We continue these efforts every day with the hope of reaching a living brother,” he said. As rescue operations continue in the two areas, there is no sign of anyone being pulled out alive from the rubble as three people from the same family – mother, father and a 12-year-old boy – is the result of a failed house in Hatay. Saturday. The boy later died. The new figures bring the death toll in Turkey and Syria to 44,377. The UN said the death toll in Syria may take time to determine.