China News Service, February 15 (Xinhua) According to the Associated Press, on the 14th local time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the death toll caused by the earthquake in the south of the country rose to 35,148, saying that this is the highest number of deaths in the 100-year history of the Turkish Republic. Deadliest earthquake.
In the early hours of February 6, local time, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey. The picture shows the earthquake rescue site.
According to reports, on the same day, Erdogan held a five-hour cabinet meeting at the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD), and then delivered a speech, saying, "May the souls of the 35,418 citizens who lost their lives in this disaster rest in peace. "
The death toll confirmed in Turkey's quake surpassed the estimated 33,000 killed in the 1939 Erzincan earthquake.
Erdogan said that 105,505 people were injured in the earthquake near Kahramanmaras province on the 26th.
Neighboring Syria has confirmed nearly 3,700 deaths, bringing the combined death toll in both countries to more than 39,000.
Erdogan called the quake the "disaster of the century" and more than 13,000 people are still in hospital.
"We will continue the rescue work until the last citizen is rescued from the destroyed building," Erdogan said of the ongoing rescue efforts.
As the rescue work has not yet ended, the death toll is expected to rise further.