Today, Thursday, the number of deaths in two devastating earthquakes that shook southern Turkey and northern Syria, just nine hours apart, was around 40,000 people.
Ten days after the tragedy, as the chances of finding survivors diminished, several teams of foreign rescuers have begun to leave.
The Turkish disaster management agency (AFAD) raised the death toll from the 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes to 361,187. This brought the death toll in the two countries to 39,875.
In Turkey alone, more than 108,000 people were injured in the tremors on February 6.
The death toll is likely to continue to rise as first responders search for more bodies among the ruins of thousands of buildings
About 8,000 rescuers and aid workers from 74 countries were still assisting Turkish teams in search and rescue tasks, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. Around 4,200 rescuers from 15 countries have already returned home.
“I would like to thank each and every one of them,” Cavusoglu said during a joint press conference with his Costa Rican counterpart.
