Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: Now more than 35,000 dead - reports of miracle rescues

In Turkey and Syria, the death toll continues to rise.

The United Nations makes a frightening prognosis.

The news ticker.

• Earthquake

  in

  Turkey

  and

  Syria

  : death toll rises to over 35,000.

• German rescue teams

  have to interrupt

  earthquake aid

  : "Shots are also said to have been fired".

• Interior Minister Faeser

  : Earthquake victims can enter Germany unbureaucratically.

• This

  news ticker about the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

  is constantly updated.

Update from February 12, 10:12 p.m

.: The World Health Organization (WHO) has convoys with earthquake aid ready for the rebel areas in north-west Syria, but is still waiting for the delivery permit.

WHO awaits green light for Syria earthquake relief delivery

The government in Damascus has given full approval to bring convoys from government-controlled areas to rebel areas, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday in the Syrian capital Damascus.

"We're ready, we're waiting to hear from the other side," Tedros said.

The area around Idlib is under the control of militias.

The humanitarian aid organization White Helmets, which is active in north-west Syria, complained on Friday that practically no UN earthquake aid had arrived in the region by then.

According to Tedros, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has given him the prospect of opening further border crossings between the north-west and Turkey because of the emergency situation.

Turkey's Hatay Airport resumes operations after earthquake

Update from February 12, 7:48 p.m .

: The first plane after the earthquake landed at Turkey’s Hatay Airport, reports the state news agency

Damage to the only runway was "quickly repaired" after the earthquake, officials said.

The first flight after the "disaster of the century", as the earthquake is now known, was said to have been a test flight.

The plane left Istanbul empty and should return with earthquake victims.

Earthquake disaster in Turkey and Syria: death toll rises to over 35,000

February 12 update, 7:21 p.m

.: The death toll is increasing hour by hour.

On Sunday, the threshold of 35,000 confirmed victims was exceeded.

The UN fears far higher numbers.

Rescuing survivors from the rubble is like a miracle.

After 159 hours, a 17-year-old was rescued alive in the province of Gaziantep, the Turkish authorities report on Twitter.

After 157 hours, a 63-year-old woman was rescued in the city of Hatay.

But for many people, any help comes too late.

German rescue teams plan departure on Monday

Update from February 12, 6:19 p.m .

: German emergency services from the Technisches Hilfswerk (THW) and the aid organization ISAR Germany are returning to Germany, the dpa news agency reports.

Both organizations would therefore end their mission as planned.

Departure is scheduled for Monday.

Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria – Afad civil protection agency reports 2,412 aftershocks

Update from February 12, 5:42 p.m

.: On Monday morning (February 6) at 4:17 a.m. local time, parts of Turkey and Syria were hit by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake.

Another 7.6 magnitude earthquake followed shortly thereafter.

According to the civil protection agency Afad, the epicenter was in the province of Kahramanmaras near the Syrian border.

The earth hasn't calmed down since then.

Up to 2,412 aftershocks were recorded, Afad tweeted on Sunday evening.

More than 30,000 dead were officially confirmed by Sunday (February 12).

At least 29,605 people died in Turkey alone, and at least 3,575 in Syria.

More than 85,000 people were injured in both countries.

The UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths even expected up to 50,000 deaths and more, as he told Sky News in the earthquake area of ​​Kahramanmara.

Turkey is now talking about an earthquake of the century.

Miracles in the earthquake area: emergency services are still rescuing people alive from the rubble

Update from February 12, 4:47 p.m .

: It sounds incredible: Almost a week after the severe earthquake in Turkey and Syria, emergency services manage to rescue survivors from the rubble.

But it's a race against time.

The odds are diminishing.

There is little hope.

A person can normally go without water for a maximum of 72 hours.

It's bitterly cold for that.

Despite this, people were saved alive that Sunday.

Lastly a young man in Antakya.

The state broadcaster TRT also reports on a seven-month-old baby in the Turkish province of Hatay.

Helpers heard the child cry and became aware of it.

In the city of Kahramanmaras, a nine-year-old boy was found after around 120 hours.  

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Almost a week after the catastrophic earthquake, a 23-year-old boy is rescued alive by rescue workers from the rubble of a collapsed building.

© Petros Giannakouris/dpa

Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: the number of dead rises to over 30,000 – the UN expects far more

Update from February 12, 3:11 p.m .:

About a week after the earthquake disaster in the Turkish-Syrian border area, the death toll has increased to more than 30,000.

29,605 people died in Turkey alone, the state news agency

reported on Sunday, citing the civil protection authority Afad.

3,575 deaths were recently reported from Syria.

Thousands more victims are feared.

Countless houses were destroyed in the natural disaster.

Earthquake disaster in Turkey and Syria: UN emergency aid coordinator calls for help for Syrian areas

Update from February 12, 2:34 p.m .:

More than 8,000 foreign helpers are deployed in Turkey after the earthquake disaster

.

But on Syrian territory, the United Nations has had to admit its failure to help victims.

"We have failed the people of north-west Syria so far," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths tweeted on Sunday during a visit to the Syrian-Turkish border region.

These people feel they have been abandoned.

"They're on the lookout for international aid that hasn't arrived." It's his duty to have those errors corrected as soon as possible, Griffiths said.

Northwest Syria, which was hit particularly hard by the earthquake, is controlled by various rebel groups.

There is currently only one border crossing (Bab al-Hawa) through which the United Nations can deliver aid to areas not controlled by the government.

The Syrian government wants humanitarian aid to flow entirely through the areas it controls.

The first shipment of UN relief supplies arrived via Bab al-Hawa on Thursday (February 10), three days after last Monday's earthquake disaster.

Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: German helpers save 88-year-old woman - "Nice sense of achievement"

Update from February 12, 12:09 p.m .:

A team from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), together with Turkish helpers, saved an 88-year-old woman alive from the rubble in the earthquake area.

The woman was rescued on Sunday night, she was weak but responsive, explained THW spokeswoman Katharina Garrecht in the city of Kirikhan.

"It was a nice sense of achievement." The 88-year-old was taken to a hospital with broken bones after the rescue.

The THW and the aid organization ISAR Germany interrupted their rescue work on Saturday for fear of possible riots.

The helpers stay at the common base camp in Kirikhan.

Should they be called upon for a rescue, they will continue to move out.

In the case of the rescue of the 88-year-old, local forces from the Turkish civil protection and the army called the THW to the site around 8 p.m. on Saturday, as Garrecht said.

The rescuers could have spoken to the buried person through an interpreter.

The woman was rescued around 10 p.m.

According to THW, the rescuers were accompanied by security forces during the measures.

It was said on Sunday that there was still no information on site about possible tensions in the Hatay region.

One is dependent on the information from the Turkish authorities.

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Rescue workers inspect the remains of a destroyed building in Antakya, Turkey.

© Petros Giannakouris/dpa

Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: UN expects 50,000 or more fatalities

Update from February 12, 10:44 a.m .:

After the earthquake disaster in the Syrian-Turkish border area, the number of fatalities could rise to 50,000 or more, according to United Nations estimates.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told Sky News on Sunday in the Kahramanmara earthquake area that estimates are difficult but the death toll could "double or more".

"And that's scary," he said.

The number of dead is now officially more than 28,000 people

.

The situation was "deeply shocking" - "to think that these mountains of rubble still contain people, some of them still alive, many of them dead," Griffiths said.

He has experienced many conflicts and wars, but losing tens of thousands of people in one night is something he has never seen in other conflicts.

Griffiths was impressed by the efforts of the rescue workers, both from the Turkish side and from the international rescuers.

Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: death toll rises to over 28,000

Update from February 12, 8:47 a.m .:

The death toll has risen to more than 28,000 just under a week after the devastating earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area.

According to the state news agency

, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Sunday night that at least 24,617 people died in Turkey.

In Syria, 3574 deaths were last reported.

Almost 80,300 injuries have been registered so far.

Oktay said prosecutors had set up departments to investigate earthquake-related crimes in 10 provinces affected by the earthquake, on orders from the Ministry of Justice.

131 people were identified who were responsible for buildings that collapsed.

One was arrested.

Arrest warrants had been issued against 113 others.

Turkish City Minister Murat Kurum said that almost 172,000 buildings in ten provinces have now been inspected.

It was found that around 25,000 had been badly damaged or had to be demolished urgently.

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Rescue workers inspect the remains of a destroyed building in Antakya, Turkey.

© Petros Giannakouris/dpa

Update from February 11, 9:34 p.m .:

In the eastern Turkish province of Hatay, a two-month-old baby was rescued alive from the rubble more than five days after the devastating earthquake in Turkey.

The infant had previously been buried under rubble in the Mediterranean municipality of Iskenderun for 128 hours before being pulled out and taken to a hospital, Turkey's state-run

News Agency reported on Saturday.

Although the actually critical 72-hour window for the rescue of those buried under has long since closed, survivors are still being found under the rubble in the disaster region in the Turkish-Syrian border area. 

Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: Over 8000 foreign helpers on Turkish territory

Update from February 11, 8:49 p.m .:

As the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced via Twitter, the country is receiving support from more than 8,000 foreign helpers in dealing with the consequences of the devastating earthquake.

A total of 8,513 helpers are deployed in the affected areas, it said.

Forces from 68 countries are in Turkey.

A total of 99 different countries offered support, it said.

German helpers are also deployed in Turkey.

According to the ministry, aid teams from 15 countries with a total of 1,657 helpers are expected.

Update from February 11, 6:28 p.m .:

The Turkish police arrested around twelve people suspected of being responsible after the collapse of thousands of buildings in the earthquake areas.

According to the Turkish news agency

several contractors from the provinces of Gaziantep and Sanliurfa were among those arrested on Saturday.

As the official news agency

reported, the prosecutor of the province of Diyarbakir, which was also affected by the earthquake in Turkey, issued 29 further arrest warrants on Saturday.

Investigations have been launched in other provinces.

Many people blame poor construction quality for the collapse of thousands of buildings in Turkey's provinces.

Turkey's Justice Ministry ordered prosecutors in the ten affected provinces to set up special offices to investigate "offences related to the earthquake."

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A man walks over the rubble of collapsed buildings.

© Hussein Malla/dpa

Interior Minister Faeser: Relatives in Germany may bring earthquake victims "unbureaucratically"

Update from February 11, 4:45 p.m .:

Earthquake victims from Turkey and Syria can stay with relatives in Germany and enter unbureaucratically with visas.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Foreign Office agreed on this on Saturday, as reported by the

.

"It's about help in need," said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) of the newspaper.

"We want to make it possible for Turkish or Syrian families in Germany to bring their close relatives from the disaster region to them in an unbureaucratic manner."

Faeser added: "With regular visas, which are issued quickly and are valid for three months." The Federal Ministry of the Interior will make this possible together with the Federal Foreign Office.

It is about people in Germany “finding shelter and being able to be treated medically”.

Update from February 11, 4:26 p.m .:

The Austrian military is now continuing its rescue work after the earthquake in Turkey with Turkish military protection after an interruption.

The Turkish army has taken over the protection of the soldiers of the disaster relief unit, the spokesman for the Austrian armed forces tweeted on Saturday afternoon.

Austria has been deployed with 82 military personnel in the Turkish province of Hatay since Tuesday.

Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: the number of victims rises to over 25,000 dead

Update from February 11, 3:44 p.m .:

The number of deaths after the earthquake in the border area between Turkey and Syria has risen to more than 25,000.

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an appearance televised live in Sanliurfa province on Saturday, the number now stands at 21,848 for Turkey alone.

3,553 deaths were reported from Syria.

According to the president, 80,104 people were injured in Turkey alone.

More than 1.5 million sought shelter in tents or public shelters or hotels.

The search and rescue work continued on Saturday.

There were still isolated reports of people being rescued alive from the rubble.

Rescue teams interrupt earthquake aid – “Not aggression against German helpers”

Update from February 11, 2:46 p.m .:

Due to the unclear security situation, some aid teams – including teams from Germany – have interrupted their work (see previous update).

They stayed at the common base camp in the city of Kirikhan.

If there is a concrete indication that someone can be saved alive, they will still drive out, THW spokeswoman Katharina Garrecht told the German Press Agency on site.

"Our emergency services have not heard anything from the riots so far," said the THW.

An ISAR spokesman said: "According to our information, the aggression is not directed against German helpers." So far, there has been no threat.

Experience has shown that there are different phases in major damage situations such as an earthquake catastrophe, the ISAR spokesman said.

“We are currently in the phase in which the hope of survivors under the rubble is becoming ever smaller.

For this reason, the people sometimes turn into deep sadness and sometimes into anger about their personal losses.” In addition, there are difficulties with the water and food supply, which stress and sometimes frustrate those affected.

ISAR head of operations Steven Bayer said: "It can be seen that the sadness is slowly giving way to anger."

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Turkish rescue workers rescue a man from the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay.

© Can Ozer/dpa

German rescue teams have to interrupt earthquake aid – “shots are also said to have been fired”

Update from February 11, 2:05 p.m .:

Due to a deteriorating security situation, German and other aid teams interrupted their rescue work in the earthquake region in Turkey on Saturday.

As ISAR Germany and the Technical Relief Agency (THW) announced, both teams, in coordination with the Turkish civil protection Afad, interrupted their mission because the security situation in the Hatay region had apparently changed.

"There are increasing reports of clashes between different groups, and shots are said to have been fired," it said.

However, the organizations want to resume their work as soon as it is safe to do so again.

Shortly before, the Austrian army had also suspended its rescue mission in Turkey due to the security situation.

"There were clashes between groups," said an army spokesman as justification, without giving any further details.

As the spokesman went on to say, the Austrian forces, together with other aid organizations, were also “in a base camp in the Turkish province of Hatay and are waiting for instructions”.

The rescue workers of the organizations had continued to search for survivors under the rubble in the last few days.

Almost 24,000 dead in Turkey and Syria - millions of people became homeless

Update from February 11, 8:11 a.m .:

The death toll as a result of the severe earthquake in Turkey and Syria has continued to rise.

The authorities now count 20,318 dead and over 80,000 injured in Turkey alone.

This was announced by the Ministry of Health.

The hope of further survivors under the piles of rubble dwindles as time progresses.

According to Vice President Fuat Oktay, only 67 people across the country have been pulled alive from the rubble in the past 24 hours.

3553 fatalities are currently reported in Syria.

This increases the total number of victims to 23,871.

According to estimates by the United Nations, up to 5.3 million people have become homeless in Syria alone.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that up to 23 million people will be affected by the earthquake on both sides of the border.

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Earthquake: Already more than 22,000 dead in Turkey and Syria - millions of people homeless

First report from February 11:

Damascus/Ankara – According to a UN estimate, more than five million people in Syria could have become homeless as a result of the severe earthquake.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is preparing for nearly 5.4 million people to need shelter assistance, UNHCR representative in the Syrian capital Damascus, Sivanka Dhanapala, told reporters in Geneva via video link on Friday.

The estimate includes both government- and rebel-controlled areas.

Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: millions of people homeless - number of dead rises to over 22,000

In the civil war country, 6.8 million people had already been displaced from their villages and towns by fighting before the catastrophe.

Many of them have now once again lost the roof over their heads as a result of the earthquake.

The first UN aid convoy only arrived in the rebel areas in the northwest of the country on Thursday evening.

Helpers on site criticized the United Nations for the sluggish aid.

There is only one border crossing from Turkey into the region.

Helpers from Germany also report dramatic operations on site.

The number of dead after the earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area has risen to 19,338 in Turkey alone.

More than 77,000 people were injured, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Malatya on Friday.

As of Friday afternoon, February 10, 3,384 deaths were reported from Syria.

At least 22,722 fatalities have now been counted in both countries, with many more feared.

Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: Erdogan sees "lies and provocations" on social media

People in earthquake-affected areas should trust their state, Erdogan said, and pay no heed to "lies and provocations" on social media.

The first tremor hit the border area early Monday morning with a magnitude of 7.7.

Another 7.6 magnitude tremor followed in the region on Monday afternoon.

According to the Turkish civil protection agency Afad, there have been more than 1,000 aftershocks since then.

List of rubrics: © Petros Giannakouris/dpa