Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu announced today, Friday, a new rise in the death toll from the devastating earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria at dawn on February 6.
Soylu said that the death toll from the Kahramanmaraş earthquake in Turkey had reached 39,672.
The latest statistics issued by the Turkish authorities for the number of dead amounted to 38 thousand and 44 dead, before announcing the new toll.
The Minister of Interior added, in statements broadcast by the private channel "CNN Turk", that about 82,000 buildings either collapsed or were severely damaged as a result of the earthquake in Turkey.
At dawn on February 6, an earthquake of 7.7 degrees struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by another hours later with a magnitude of 7.6 and hundreds of violent aftershocks, which left great losses in lives and property in both countries.