Farkhund Yousufzai
ISLAMABAD/ANKARA: Over 5,600 buildings had been destroyed in Turkey by Monday’s powerful earthquake as the civil war in Syria complicated rescue efforts in the war-torn country.
At least 4,310 citizens have died across both countries, and officials fear that fatalities could rise further.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake had happened before dawn on Monday when many citizens would have been sleeping.
And while rescuers spent the night scouring rubble, bitterly freeze weather could reduce the time they have to find survivors.
More than 7,800 citizens in Turkiye have been rescued across ten provinces so far, and crews from around the globe have been making their way to the epicenter to help.
Buildings Destroyed
In Syria, the earthquake and subsequent tremor further weakened the foundation of buildings that bore the brunt of shelling and airstrikes during the decades of unrest.
The latest figure suggests more than 13,000 in Turkiye have been wounded, and in the city of Iskenderun, there was an enormous pile of debris where the intensive care unit once stood.
“We have the patient who was taken into surgery, but we do not know what happened,” said Tulin, the woman in her 30s standing outside the hospital and wiping tears from her eyes.
Ten thousand have been left homeless across Syria and Turkiye and spent last night in the cold.
About 20 miles away from the earthquake’s epicenter in Gaziantep, people took refuge in shopping centers, mosques, stadiums, and community centers.
