Rescue workers made a final push to find survivors of the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria where the death toll across both countries had topped 20,000, on Thursday (9/2/2023).
The scene from the air shows the scope of devastation with entire neighborhoods of high-rises reduced to twisted metal pulverized concrete and exposes wires in Diyarbakir.
The death toll from Monday’s 7.8 magnitude catastrophe rose to nearly 21,000. The new figure which is certain to rise included over 17,600 people in Turkiye, more than 3,300 in civil war-torn Syria, and 10.000 were also injured.
Even though experts say people could survive for a week or more, the chances of finding survivors in the freezing temperatures were dimming.
In Kahramanmaras the city closest to the epicenter, workers continued to conduct rescue operations but it was clear that many who were trapped in collapsed buildings had already died. One rescue worker was heard saying that his psychological state was declining and that the smell of death was becoming too much to bear.
