Death toll from Turkey-Syria earthquake passes 45,000

The combined death toll following the massive earthquakes and aftershocks in Turkey and Syria on February 6 passed 45,000 as of Saturday and continues to rise, according to international media.

The total number of people killed in Turkey has hit 39,672 while the Syrian government and the UN said more than 5,800 people have died there.

The powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake was the deadliest disaster in Turkey’s modern history. Besides, the World Health Organisation described the quake as the worst natural disaster in 100 years.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday announced that more than 35,000 people died in the earthquake in Turkey, making it the deadliest disaster since the country's founding 100 years ago.

Previously the grisly record was held by the 1939 Erzincan earthquake which claimed around 33,000 lives, he added.

Meanwhile, rescue teams rescued Hakan Yasinoğlu, a 45-year-old man, alive after he spent 278 hours under the rubble in Turkey’s Hatay.

The search teams working overnight also claimed to have found a woman and two men alive in earthquake wreckage.

The latest rescues came as crews began clearing debris in cities devastated by the earthquake.

A total of 178 UN trucks carrying aid from Turkey into northwest Syria have crossed the border since February 9.

Turkey is caring for 1,589 children who have been separated from their families following the earthquakes.

Besides, the United Nations on Thursday launched a $1 billion appeal to scale-up aid operations in Turkey as the death toll from the cataclysmic earthquake that has devastated parts of Turkey and Syria is still rising.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the international community to step up and fully fund the response effort to assist more than five million people affected by the earthquakes.

“Turkey is home to the largest number of refugees in the world and has shown enormous generosity to its Syrian neighbors for years,” Guterres said. 

“Now is the time for the world to support the people of Turkey, just as they have stood in solidarity with others seeking assistance,” he added.