Nearly a week after one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit Turkey and Syria, rescuers continue to remove the bodies of the dead from under the rubble. The number of victims of the earthquake and powerful aftershocks in both countries exceeded 33,000 people and it looks like this number will continue to grow. It was the deadliest earthquake in Turkey since 1939.
The death toll in Turkey is 29,695, with more than 3,500 dead in Syria, where the disaster has hit the rebel-controlled northwest hardest, once again leaving homeless many people who have already lost their homes repeatedly in a decade-long civil war, Reuters reports . The region received little assistance compared to government-controlled areas.
At the same time, the search for survivors continues – in the city of Antakya in southern Turkey, a team of Chinese rescuers and Turkish firefighters rescued 54-year-old Syrian Malik Milandi, who survived under the rubble for 156 hours.