The Turkish Ministry of Health has announced that the death toll from the earthquake that struck Malatya and Alazig states increased to 31, and more than 1,600 people were injured.
The two states experienced a total of 640 aftershocks in two days, the largest of which reached 5.7 on the Richter scale, and efforts to search for survivors under the rubble are still ongoing.
And Turkey's disaster management said today, Sunday, that rescue teams - which were working all night at temperatures below zero - pulled 45 people from the rubble of buildings collapsed by the earthquake that struck the east of the country on Friday, while the death toll rose to 31 people.
Television stations broadcast footage showing a thirty-five-year-old woman and her baby girl, while being rescued from the rubble, 28 hours after the earthquake in Alazig province.
Disaster and Emergency Management added that rescuers use their hands, mechanical excavators and other tools, and continue to search for survivors in three locations in the state.
Erdogan visits the region
For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan affirmed the government's keenness to heal the wounds of its citizens whose homes were destroyed or damaged by the violent earthquake.
Erdogan said that the number of deaths from the earthquake amounted to 31 and injuries to 1607 citizens, while 45 were rescued from the rubble, and announced that 1503 of those injured by the earthquake ended their treatment and were discharged from hospitals.
He pointed out that all institutions of the Turkish state have exhausted all their capabilities in order to stand beside the affected citizens.
The Turkish President had inspected the rubble of the collapsed buildings in the Cevrij district of the state of Alazig, and during his inspection tour of the region participated in the funeral of a woman and her son killed by the earthquake.
For his part, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed "deep sorrow for the loss of life and the destruction of property in the wake of the earthquake that struck the Turkish state of Alazig Friday evening."
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Stephen Dujarric, the Secretary-General offered his condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the people and government of Turkey, stressing the United Nations' solidarity with Turkey and its offer of support.