China News Service, February 13 (Xinhua) Comprehensive foreign media reports, it has been nearly a week since the strong earthquakes occurred in Turkey and Syria, and more than 34,000 people have been killed in the two countries so far.
United Nations officials estimate that the death toll will increase to more than 50,000, and the next phase of assistance will focus on the huge disaster victims.
On February 12, 2023, a 23-year-old man was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Turkey.
After 157 hours, a pregnant woman was rescued
According to Turkish media reports, 157 hours after the first earthquake, on the 12th local time, a pregnant woman was rescued in the hardest-hit Hatay Province.
On the same day, rescuers also rescued a 6-year-old boy from the ruins of Adiyaman.
Television footage showed the child wrapped in a blanket and taken to an ambulance.
Turkish Health Minister Koca released a video in which a girl in a dark blue jumper was rescued.
"Good news at 150th hour. Just rescued by rescuers. Hope there will be!" he tweeted.
Also, a team of German and Turkish rescuers rescued an 88-year-old woman from the rubble in Kirihan.
Rescuers also rescued two men in Antakya, one of whom appeared to be unharmed.
In the early hours of the 12th, a child was rescued in the town of Nizep in Gaziantep.
A 32-year-old woman was rescued from the rubble of an eight-storey building in Antakya city.
The search and rescue work in Turkey's strong earthquake continued, and rescuers searched for survivors among the rubble.
Figure/Visual China
UN official: Next phase will focus on survivors
On the 11th local time, Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, inspected the disaster area in Kahramanmaras Province, Turkey, and said that the strong earthquake that occurred in southern Turkey near the border with Syria on the 6th was the cause of the earthquake. The "worst event in a century" in a region.
"Until the debris is cleared, I think it's hard to get an accurate estimate of the number of people killed, but I believe it will double or more. We haven't really started counting the number of people killed."
Griffiths noted that the next phase will focus on meeting the needs of survivors.
"They have lost their homes, their children have no schools. They have no food, no money and are left to rely on the generosity of the Turkish people, their government and the international community."
He also posted a video on Twitter on the same day, saying: "Soon, search and rescue personnel will give way to humanitarian agencies. Their job is to deal with the huge number of affected people in the next few months."
At least 870,000 people in Turkey and Syria are in desperate need of food, the United Nations has warned.
In Syria alone, as many as 5.3 million people are homeless.
The picture shows local time on February 9, an aerial photo of the disaster-stricken area in Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
Turkey sets up "seismic crime investigation bureau"
Turkish authorities began issuing arrest warrants for builders of some of the collapsed buildings, with 12 people arrested as relief efforts continued for at least 6,000 buildings that collapsed or were damaged by the powerful quake.
Turkish Justice Minister Bozda said on the evening of the 12th that the Turkish Prosecutor's Office issued 134 arrest warrants on the same day to arrest contractors and engineers who were directly responsible for the poor-quality buildings in the earthquake zone.
Bozda said that according to the instructions of the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutor's Office set up "Earthquake Crime Investigation Bureau" in the 10 provinces affected by the earthquake to thoroughly investigate the collapse of a large number of buildings during the earthquake.