Earthquake Updates

More than a week after powerful earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, the death toll has reached more than 40,000 in both countries, authorities said, even as rescue teams searched for survivors. survivors left in the ruins.

There was some glimmer of hope on Tuesday after rescue teams in Turkey defied the odds by rescuing nine survivors from the rubble. Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad also agreed for the first time in twelve  years of civil war to open more border crossings from Turkey so that aid could flow to areas affected by opposition groups. with his government in control.

In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday tried to reassure a country already struggling economically before the earthquake. “No one should have any doubts: This country has weathered many disasters,” he said at the country’s emergency management agency headquarters in Ankara.”We’ll get through this too.” ,

 

Here are the latest developments:

Death toll:

Turkey’s official death toll is 35,418, Erdogan said on Tuesday. The United Nations humanitarian agency says the death toll in Syria has reached more than 5,500.

 

Children:

Millions of children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance because of the earthquake, said the United Nations Children’s Fund. Although the total number of children in need is unclear, UNICEF notes that 4.6 million children living in 10 provinces of Turkey were affected by the earthquake and more than 2.5 million children were affected in Syria.

United Nations:

The global body published a $397 million humanitarian appeal for Syria over a three-month period, and its secretary general, António Guterres, said an appeal. The same will be given to Turkey. The organization also disbursed $50 million from an emergency fund for earthquake relief.,

 

An Unlikely Rescue:

Workers pulled 18-year-old Muhammed Cafer Cetin from the rubble of a building 198 hours after the devastating earthquake, according to Turkish state broadcaster TRT, here was the third unlikely rescue of the morning. The condition of the eight survivors is unknown, all of whom have been taken to hospital.

 

Critics in Turkey:

Critics of Erdogan, who have sought to defend his response to the disaster, have drawn attention to videos showing him earlier praising several projects. The housing project collapsed in the earthquake and buried thousands of people. Turkish authorities have also arrested other contractors, including one involved in the collapse of a 16-story building in the city of Adana, where at least 70 people were killed.

More aid to Syria:

A Saudi aid plane carrying 35 tons of food and other aid arrives at Syria’s Aleppo International Airport in a government-controlled area of the divided country on Tuesday. Dozens of aid groups working in Syria have urgently called for an increase in international aid.