Turkey earthquake: Rescue effort ends in all but two areas
About two weeks after a major earthquake killed tens of thousands of people, Turkey has stopped rescue efforts in all but two provinces, the nation’s disaster agency reported. According to the agency’s leader, searches will continue in Kahramanmaras and Hatay.
On Friday, survivors were still being extracted from the wreckage, but chances of discovering more survivors are dwindling. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Turkey. He had planned the vacation before the catastrophe.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Kahramanmaras on February 6 had its epicentre there. There have been confirmed fatalities totaling more than 44,000 in northern Syria and southeast Turkey.
With around 345,000 apartments in Turkey reported to have been damaged and numerous others still missing, the death toll is sure to rise. The number of those who are still missing has not been disclosed by Turkey or Syria.
According to Yunus Sezer, the head of the disaster agency, “search and rescue efforts have been concluded in several of our provinces.”
Over 40 structures in the two provinces, he added, were still the subject of search and rescue operations, though he anticipated that this number would decline by Sunday night.
More than 11 days after they were buried by the earthquake, rescuers retrieved at least three individuals from the ruins on Friday.
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