Death toll rises to 11,000 in Turkey, Syria
The death toll from the earthquake that struck southern Turkey and Syria earlier this week surpassed 11,000 on Wednesday, as rescuers sifted through rubble with increasingly diminished hopes.
More than 8,500 people have been confirmed dead in Turkey, while at least 1,200 deaths have been recorded in government-held portions of Syria and another 1,400 have died in rebel-held portions of the country already plagued by a decade of civil war, according to The Associated Press.
While many recovered from the rubble have been found dead, several successful rescues have continued to provide a glimmer of hope.
“For now, the name of hope in Kahramanmaraş is Arif Kaan,” a Turkish television reporter said, after a 3-year-old boy, Arif Kaan, was pulled from the rubble in the hard-hit city of Kahramanmaraş, the AP reported.
Amid frustrations over the Turkish government’s response to the tremor, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan acknowledged on Wednesday that there were problems with their initial response but appeared confident that it was improving.
“We are better today,” Erdoğan said during a visit to Kahramanmaraş, Reuters reported. “We will be better tomorrow and later. We still have some issues with fuel … but we will overcome those too.”
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake and its powerful aftershocks struck southern Turkey early on Monday morning, quickly becoming the world’s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade. It is also Turkey’s deadliest quake since 1999.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
