More than 4,300 People Died from Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria

More than 4,300 people have died in the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, reported AFP. In Turkey alone, the injured are more than 14 thousand.

Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev stated that information about one victim with Bulgarian citizenship is being checked.

Aftershocks continue, most of which have a magnitude above 5 on the Richter scale.

The director of Turkey's Emergency Situations Service, Yunus Sezer, announced that the death toll in the country had risen to over 2,900. According to the service, over 14,000 people were injured and over 6,000 buildings were destroyed in the earthquakes with a magnitude of over 7 on Richter. Nearly 150 aftershocks followed.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan has declared a week of national mourning. He described the disaster as the country's worst in decades.

"We don't know how much the number of dead and injured will rise, as the work of rescuers continues in the ruins of many buildings in the earthquake zone. But our hope is that we will recover from this disaster with as few human casualties as possible," said Erdogan.

In neighboring Syria, at least 220 buildings collapsed in yesterday's devastating earthquakes, and as many are uninhabitable, a UN spokesman said. Stockpiles of humanitarian aid are unavailable for nearly 4 million Syrians in the opposition-held earthquake zone.

Today, the search for survivors under the collapsed buildings continues.

Teams from 17 European countries, including Bulgaria, have been sent to Turkey to participate in rescue and search activities, announced European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic.

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