Turkey: Death toll from earthquakes hitting country rises to 8,100

The authorities of Turkey and Syria have updated the balance sheet of those killed in the earthquakes recorded this Monday near the border of both countries. Now this figure rises to 8,164 people, and the number of injured exceeds 39,200 victims, the balance has yet to be determined.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Otkay elaborated on these figures that 5,894 people were killed and 34,810 were injured in his country.

Government Recep Tayyip Erdogan set up a Crisis Management Center at the Department of Defense to “handle this huge disaster” to get rescue personnel and crew across the air-assistance bridge.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar specified that 2,600 rescuers were deployed from various parts of the country to affected areas, along with 78 vehicles, other materials and 75 aircraft, Anatolia news agency reported.

From my side, the earthquake claimed the lives of 1250 people and 2054 people were injured in areas of Syria. controlled by the authorities, according to data from the Syrian Ministry of Health, published in his profile on the social network Facebook. These data correspond to the provinces of Aleppo, Hama, Latakia, Tartus and areas of Idlib, which are in the hands of government forces.

“We are in a race against time and are working with the maximum energy available and with the cooperation of all parties,” the Syrian health ministry said in a statement, indicating that the country’s executive branch has considered emergency measures to regulate the situation.

To the Syrian government figures, we must add more than 1,020 killed and 2,400 wounded in rebel-controlled areas in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo (northwest), according to the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets. his Twitter account, where he lamented the “catastrophe and destruction” caused by the earthquake.

Similarly, the White Helmets indicated that more than 360 buildings were completely destroyed, and more than a thousand were “seriously destroyed”.

Deploy more troops

Turkish authorities announced on Tuesday the deployment of about 28,000 security forces to the southeastern parts of the country most affected by the earthquakes.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said that 18,000 Turkish Gendarmerie personnel from all over the country would arrive in the area, along with 10,000 members of the security forces.

Regarding possible looting due to earthquakes, Soylu explained that “individual incidents of this type” were recorded, but stated that “in addition, such actions do not occur in Turkey.”

(According to Europa Press and EFE)