Twelve days after the quake hit, more than 45,000 people have been killed in the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria. Around 264,000 apartments in Turkey destroyed and many still missing in the country’s worst modern disaster.
The death toll in Syria has reported more than 5,800 deaths. Syria’s toll has not changed for days, while neighbouring Turkey stands at 39,672.
Meanwhile, three people including a child were rescued alive from the rubble of a building in Antakya city of southern Turkey on Saturday, state news agency Anadolu said.
Many international rescue teams have left the vast quake zone, domestic teams continued to search through flattened buildings on Saturday hoping to find more survivors who defied the odds. Experts say most rescues occur in the 24 hours following an earthquake.
According to France24, neighbouring Syria, already shattered by more than a decade of civil war, the bulk of fatalities have been in the northwest, an area controlled by insurgents who are at war with President Bashar al-Assad – a conflict that has complicated efforts to aid people affected by the earthquake.
Thousands of Syrians who had sought refuge in Turkey from their country’s civil war have returned to their homes in the war zone, at least for now.
