Turkey earthquake death toll climbs past 19,300, survivors struggle to stay warm
ByIsabel Keane
February 9, 2023 6:40am
Updated
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A young boy named Moaz was met with booming cheers as rescuers pulled him out alive from the devastating wreckage in Jindires, in northern Syria, sobering photos and video show.
“We were in a five story building full of people and my whole family died,” the young boy reportedly told first responders.
Hundreds of other families were still stuck under the debris Thursday after about 90 buildings collapsed in the Syrian town, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A child was rescued by German (yellow) and British (orange) rescue teams after an 8-hour operation in Kahramanmaras, Turkey.Arnaud Andrieu/SIPA/Shutterstock[IMG alt="A rescue team found a toddler in Antakya, Turkey after the deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake."]https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000006375355.jpg?w=1024[/IMG]A rescue team found a toddler in Antakya, Turkey after the deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake.YONHAP/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit early Monday morning.
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In Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, harrowing footage shows published by Shaam Network shows heartbroken families carrying the remains of deceased loved ones as part of a mass makeshift burial. One man can be seen carrying a small bundle wrapped in white, appearing to be a dead child.
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A man pleads to a rescue worker to save his brother in Hatay, Turkey, on Feb. 8, 2023.AFP via Getty Images
A view of a destroyed Catholic Church after the earthquake in Iskenderun Turkey is shown on Feb. 9, 2023.APAdvertisement
A mother from Syria mourns for the loss of her daughter, who was an earthquake victim, in Reyhanli, Turkey on Feb. 9, 2023.APAdvertisement
The gut-wrenching clip then shows all the dead lined up next to each other on the ground as men form graves using stones. An excavator was used to cover the graves, which were then labeled with a black marker.
Also in Aleppo, rescue workers pulled seven people out alive and 44 bodies from a collapsed building in the city center on Thursday, state TV reported.
A man looks on as residents and rescue personnel search for victims and survivors through the rubble of collapsed buildings in Adiyaman, Turkey on Feb. 8, 2023.AFP via Getty Images[IMG alt="Arife Koc, 68, was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building, 80 hours after the major earthquake."]https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000006375601.jpg?w=1024[/IMG]An man was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building, 80 hours after the major earthquake.SEDAT SUNA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“We are racing against time. Time is running out,” said the Syrian paramedic group in the rebel-held northwest known as White Helmets. “Every second could mean saving a life.”
In Turkey, dozens of people scrambled for aid in front of a truck distributing children’s coats and other supplies in the southern city of Antakya Thursday.
Tens of thousands of people in Turkey have lost their homes and have found shelter in tents, stadiums, and other temporary accommodations, others have spent the nights outdoors.
Residents and rescue personnel search for victims and survivors through the rubble of collapsed buildings in Adiyaman, Turkey on Feb. 8, 2023.AFP via Getty ImagesOne survivor in Antakya, Ahmet Tokgoz, called on the government to evacuate people from the wrecked region.
“Especially in this cold, it is not possible to live here,” he said. “If people haven’t died from being stuck under the rubble, they’ll die from the cold.”
In the Turkish town of Elbistan, rescuers formed human chains as they dug through collapsed buildings, urging people to be quiet in the hopes of hearing stifled cries for help — though they have mainly only been recovering dead bodies.
Rescue workers carry the body of a victim out of a damaged building in Kirikhan, Turkey on Feb. 9, 2023.REUTERS
Syrians warm up by a fire at a make-shift shelter for people who were left homeless, near the rebel-held town of Jindayris on on Feb. 9, 2023.AFP via Getty Images
People gather as rescuers continue to search for victims and survivors trapped under the rubble in Kahramanmaras, Turkey on Feb. 9, 2023.REUTERSTurkey’s disaster management agency said more than 110,000 rescue personnel were now taking part in the effort and more than 5,500 vehicles, including tractors, cranes, bulldozers and excavators had been shipped.
But the scale of loss is unfathomable. Turkish authorities said Thursday that the death toll had risen to more than 16,000 in the country, with more than 64,000 injured. On the Syrian side, which includes in government-held and rebel-held areas, more than 3,000 have been reported dead and more than 5,000 injured.
Turkey silences earthquake response critics with Twitter ban
The overall death toll early Thursday climbed past 19,300 people — surpassing the tally in a 2011 earthquake off Japan that triggered a tsunami, killing more than 18,400 people.
Meanwhile, officials expect the grim count to continue to rise, as aid efforts in both Turkey and Syria have been hindered by the lack of machinery and equipment needed to move some of the heavy concrete that has been trapping people, oftentimes fatally.
Rescue missions in Syria have also been slowed by the ongoing war and isolation of the rebel-held region along the border, which is surrounded by Russia-backed government forces.
