Death toll reaches 21,051 in Turkey-Syria earthquakes

The death toll in the deadly Turkey-Syria earthquakes has climbed to at least 21,051 ANI reported citing authorities on Friday.

According to Vice President Fuat Oktay on Thursday, at least 17,674 people have died and 72,879 have been injured in Turkey. In contrast, at least 3,377 people were killed in Syria, according to the White Helmets civil rescue organisation, including 2,030 in rebel-held areas in the northwest and 1,347 in government-controlled areas, as reported by Syrian state media.

A three-month state of emergency was declared in Turkey’s earthquake-ravaged provinces on Thursday after lawmakers approved it, according to Anadolu Agency.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the three-month state of emergency to speed up search and rescue efforts in the quake-hit provinces, as per the news report.

Earthquakes of magnitudes 7.7 and 7.6, centred in the province of Kahramanmaras, were felt by 13 million people across 10 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa, as per the news report. Turkey’s neighbouring countries, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the tremors.