Turkiye raises earthquake death toll to 3,419

Turkiye’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Tuesday that the total number of deaths in Turkiye from the earthquakes had risen to 3,419, with another 20,534 people injured. Rescuers raced to find survivors in the rubble of thousands of buildings brought down by the quake and multiple aftershocks that struck eastern Turkiye and neighbouring Syria, with the discovery of more bodies raising the death toll to more than 5,000.

But with such a wide swath of territory hit by Monday’s earthquake and nearly 6,000 buildings confirmed to have collapsed in Turkiye alone, their efforts were spread thin. Attempts to reach survivors were also impeded by temperatures below freezing and close to 200 aftershocks, which made the search through unstable structures perilous.

The quake, which was centered in Turkiye’s southeastern province of Kahramanmaras, sent residents of Damascus and Beirut rushing into the street and was felt as far away as Cairo.