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Death toll from earthquakes in Turkey and Syria exceeds 50,000

Two and a half weeks after the earthquake disaster in the Turkish-Syrian border area, the number of dead has risen to more than 50,000.

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Death toll from earthquakes in Turkey and Syria exceeds 50,000

Two and a half weeks after the earthquake disaster in the Turkish-Syrian border area, the number of dead has risen to more than 50,000. In Turkey alone, the number is 44,218, the Turkish disaster agency Afad reported on Friday evening. 5,900 deaths were recently reported from Syria.

Aftershocks repeatedly shake the region and often cause panic among local residents. According to the Turkish government, 20 million people in the country are affected by the earthquake. The United Nations assumes that 8.8 million people will be affected in Syria.

The areas affected by the earthquake were initially difficult to access, but salvage work is being continued, and the number of victims is increasing as it progresses. There have been no more reports of the rescue of survivors in the past few days.

The series of earthquakes began on February 6, when two earthquakes measuring 7.7 and a little later measuring 7.6 shook southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. This was followed by more than 9,000 aftershocks, according to Turkish sources.

According to the United Nations, the earthquake disaster was not only the worst in Turkish history in terms of fatalities. The mountains of rubble are also unprecedented, said Louisa Vinton, the representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Turkey. According to the Turkish government, more than 173,000 buildings have been registered as having collapsed or been badly damaged.

The Turkish authorities say they have started building the first shelters for people made homeless by the recent devastating earthquake. Earth excavation work is underway in the cities of Nurdagi and Islahiye in Gaziantep province, Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum tweeted. Initially, 855 apartments are planned.

The opposition blames Erdogan's government, which has been in power for the past 20 years, for the extent of the disaster because it failed to enforce building regulations. Parliamentary and presidential elections are expected in Turkey in May or June.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Thursday evening that 583 contractors or other people suspected of being responsible for collapsed buildings were being investigated. 171 were arrested.

In Turkey, eleven provinces are affected by the earthquake, in Syria the north-west. There is only scant information about the situation from the civil war country. In the face of years of bombardment and fighting, many people there were already living in precarious conditions before the tremors.

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