Tens of thousands of people who lost their homes in a catastrophic earthquake huddled around campfires in the bitter cold and clamored for food and water Thursday, three days after the temblor hit Turkey and Syria and killed more than 20,000.
KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey — Rescue workers made a final push Thursday to find survivors of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria that rendered many communities unrecognizable to their inhabitants and led the Turkish president to declare it “the disaster of the century.” The death toll topped 20,000.
A man who gave his name only as Ahmet out of fear of government retribution later asked the AP: “How can I go home and sleep? My brother is there. He may still be alive.”It was a 7.8 magnitude quake. The DHA news agency broadcast the rescue of a 10-year-old in Antakya. The agency said medics had to amputate an arm to free her and that her parents and three siblings had died. A 17-year-old girl emerged alive in Adıyaman, and a 20-year-old was found in Kahramanmaras by rescuers who shouted “God is great.”In Nurdagi, a city of around 40,000 nestled between snowy mountains some 35 miles from the quake’s epicenter, vast swaths of the city were leveled, with scarcely a building unaffected.
“There’s no hope. We can’t give up our hope in God, but they entered the building with listening devices and dogs, and there was nothing,” Yilmaz said. On the floor lay dozens of bodies wrapped in blankets or black shrouds. At least one appeared to be that of a 5- or 6-year-old. One survivor, Ahmet Tokgoz, called for the government to evacuate people from the region. Many of those who have lost their homes found shelter in tents, stadiums and other temporary accommodation, but others have slept outdoors.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Social media gives glimpse into hunt for Syria, Turkey quake survivorsTwo major earthquakes originating in Turkey killed thousands of people there and in Syria, setting off a desperate race to rescue survivors from the rubble. Harrowing rescues and desperate searches for missing loved ones rippled on social media this week.
Read more »
Crews find survivors, many dead after Turkey, Syria quakeGAZIANTEP, Turkey (AP) — Thinly-stretched rescue teams worked through the night into Wednesday, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings downed in Turkey and Syria by a catastrophic earthquake that killed more than 7,700, their grim task occasionally punctuated by the joy of finding someone still alive.
Read more »
Hopes of more survivors fading as quake death toll in Turkey and Syria exceeds 11,000With more than 11,000 people dead, the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria is the deadliest since a 2011 temblor and tsunami in Japan.
Read more »
Survivors of Turkey, Syria quake struggle to stay warm, fedThousands who lost their homes in a catastrophic earthquake huddled around campfires and clamored for food and water in the bitter cold, three days after the temblor and series of aftershocks hit T…
Read more »
Hopes fade as rescuers press search for quake survivors in Turkey and SyriaRescue crews braved freezing temperatures to pull bodies from the rubble throughout southern Turkey and northern Syria as the window for finding survivors from this week's massive earthquake began to close.
Read more »
Survivors of Turkey, Syria quake struggle to stay warm, fedThousands who lost their homes in a catastrophic earthquake huddled around campfires and clamored for food and water in the bitter cold, three days after the temblor and series of aftershocks hit Turkey and Syria, killing more than 17,000. Ahmet Tokgoz, a survivor, called for the government to evacuate people from the devastated region. Meanwhile, the first U.N. aid trucks to enter rebel-held northwest Syria from Turkey since the quake arrived Thursday morning.
Read more »