Turkey, Syria Earthquake Updates: Death Toll Hits 21,051
- US grants aid licence pausing Syrian sanctions
- Death toll expected to increase in coming days
- Earthquake-related relief licence by US Treasury to last six months
Official reports say over 21,000 lives have been lost so far in Turkey and Syria with thousands more injured as efforts continue for a fifth day in freezing conditions on Friday to save those still trapped under rubble left behind by the earthquakes in both countries.
Emergency officials and medics said on Thursday that 17,674 people had died in Turkey and 3,377 in Syria, bringing the confirmed total to 21,051. The figures have sadly exceeded the 20,000 that the World Health Organization (WHO) initially projected when the quake first broke out.
However, with the development on ground, humanitarian officials have expressed fears that the number of deaths will continue to rise in the coming days.
Meanwhile the US Treasury Department said on Thursday it had issued a licence to allow earthquake-related relief that would otherwise be prohibited by sanctions to get through to Syria.
With rescue operations now in its fifth day, the key recent developments include officials in Turkey reporting that almost 3,000 buildings had collapsed in seven different provinces, including public hospitals. A famous mosque dating back to the 13th century partially collapsed in the province of Maltaya, where a 14-story building with 28 apartments that housed 92 people also collapsed.
In the meantime, the World Bank says it will provide $1.78 billion (£1.47billion) to Turkey while the United States will be sending $85 million in aid for Turkey and Syria.
Also, immediate assistance of $780 million would be offered via contingent emergency response components from two existing projects in Turkey, the World Bank said.
Already, countries including France and Germany have also sent money and support, even Greece, which has had long-term disputes with Turkey, has not been left out in the aids giving parade.
On its part, Britain is committing additional funding of £3 million ($3.65m) to support search and rescue operations and emergency relief in Syria, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Inside Turkey, the Disaster Management Agency (AHAD) said at least 28,044 people have been evacuated from Kahramanmaraş, one of the southern Turkish provinces hardest hit by Monday’s earthquake, including 23,437 by air and 4,607 by road and rail.
Rescuers continued to pull people who have been trapped for days out of the rubble, including a young girl trapped for three days and AHAD, said it has recorded almost 650 aftershocks since the two earthquakes, 7.8 and 7.6 in magnitude, struck, making rescue efforts even more difficult and dangerous as emergency teams comb through severely weakened buildings.
A Reuters report shed light on how hundreds of thousands of people made homeless by the quake are being housed in banks of tents erected in stadiums and shattered city centres, while Mediterranean and Aegean beach resorts outside the quake zone are opening up hotel rooms for evacuees.
Reports also indicated that the World Health Organization head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is on his way to Syria, where the WHO is part of the response.
This is as the UN will be dispatching its aid chief, Martin Griffiths, to Gaziantep in Turkey as well as Aleppo and Damascus in Syria this weekend.
The WHO said up to 23 million people overall could be affected by the earthquake and promised long-term assistance. According to Ghebreyesus, 77 national and 13 international emergency medical teams have already been deployed to the affected areas.
Aside from the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, speaking to Turkey’s Finance Minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, about how the US can provide assistance in Turkey and Syria, the US State Department spokesperson, Ned Price said the US would continue to demand unhindered humanitarian access to Syria.
It therefore urged the Bashar al-Assad’s government to immediately allow aid through all border crossings. – With The Guardian report