Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: more than 15,000 dead, the chances of finding survivors are dwindling

The toll from the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria continues to grow.

This Thursday, it exceeds 15,000 dead, with nearly 50,000 injured in Turkey and 5,000 in Syria.

And the chances of survival are dwindling.

On the ground, rescuers work in freezing cold, after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that shook southeast Turkey and neighboring northern Syria at dawn on Monday, followed by powerful aftershocks.

The bad weather complicates the task of rescue while the first 72 hours are crucial to find survivors, according to the head of the Turkish Red Crescent, Kerem Kinik.

In the Turkish province of Hatay (south), hard hit by the earthquake, children and adolescents have been removed from the rubble of a building.

“Suddenly we heard voices and thanks to the excavator (…) we could immediately hear three people at the same time”, tells AFP one of the rescuers, Alperen Cetinkayanous.

In this province, the city of Antakya (ancient Antioch) is in ruins, drowned in a thick cloud of dust due to clearing machines digging through the rubble.

“Antakya is over”, repeat residents.

As far as the eye can see, there are only totally or partially collapsed buildings.

Even those who are still holding are deeply cracked and no one dares to stay there.

Turkey officially deplores at least 12,391 dead.

This is the worst toll since the 1999 earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.4 and which left 17,000 dead, including a thousand in Istanbul.

"It's been two days and we haven't seen anyone"

At the epicenter of the earthquake, in Kahramanmaras, a devastated city of more than a million people buried in snow, no help, no help had arrived on Tuesday.

“Where is the state?

Where is he ?

(…) It's been two days and we haven't seen anyone.

(…) The children froze to death,” protested Ali, who still hoped to see his brother and nephew again, trapped in the ruins of their building.

In Adiyaman, another city in southern Turkey, there is still no rescuer or equipment in some disaster areas, noted an AFP journalist.

The volunteers are doing their best but anger is rising in the population.

"Of course, there are shortcomings, it is impossible to be prepared for such a disaster", pleaded on Wednesday President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who visited the province of Hatay, on the Syrian border. .

Twitter remains in Turkey

Turkish social media is flooded with messages from people complaining about a lack of rescue efforts and searches for victims in their areas, especially in the Hatay region.

Turkish police have arrested a dozen people since Monday's earthquake over social media posts criticizing the government's handling of the disaster.

Twitter was inaccessible on Wednesday and internet governance watchdog netblocks.org said access to the social network was restricted "via several internet service providers in Turkey".

International aid began arriving on Tuesday, with dozens of countries offering their services to Ankara including those from the European Union and the Gulf, the United States, China and even Ukraine which, despite the Russian invasion , sent 87 rescuers.