The death toll in the earthquake that struck turkey and Syria now stands at 36000. Rescuers are desperate to search for survivors who are still under the rubble a week after the devastating earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck the two countries.
People cheered and clapped when a teen boy was rescued from the rubble in southern Turkiye's Hatay province. Rescue workers in Gaziantep province discovered a woman alive in the rubble of a five-story building.
Despite stories of survivors flooding the airwaves, rescues are saying the chances of rescuing more people alive from the rubble are getting lower with each passing day because the temperatures have gone below negative six degrees, and the severity of the collapsed buildings is making it very hard to reach those that might still be alive under the rubble.
Some family members are camping in the freezing temperatures next to the collapsed buildings, still holding on to the hope that their family members will be found alive.
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Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation, a non-governmental business organization, reports that the quake's financial damage in Turkiye alone is $84.1 billion. The figure was significantly higher than any official estimate, based on a statistical comparison with a similarly devastating 1999 earthquake.
Syria, on the other hand, has been hit hard, too. The country has experienced decades of war and is in a very delicate state to handle the aftermath of a significant quake.
the united nations are in talks with Turkey in a bid to open more border crossings into Syria so that they can get get the humanitarian help and equipment they need
the death toll in both Turkey and Syria will rise in the coming days as the teams move towards recovery and clearing the debris from the fallen buildings. Syria could be more affected because war and sanctions have made it hard for aid to reach those in need.
