The death toll from an earthquake in eastern Turkey has risen to 432 people, officials said, as rescue teams raced to find survivors beneath the rubble.
At least 1,300 others were injured in Sunday's disaster, officials said.Three generations of the same family - a two-week-old baby girl, her mother and grandmother - have been found alive by rescue workers.
Meanwhile, thousands of homeless people in the cities of Van and Ercis slept in tents or outside for a second night.
Baby Azra Karaduman survived for almost 48 hours before she was found by rescue workers.
Hours later, her mother, Semiha, was pulled from the flattened building, where she had been pinned next to a sofa, the AP news agency reports.
"I am so excited. What can I say? Let God help them," the child's other grandmother, Sevim Yigit, told Reuters news agency.
The baby's father is still missing, although he was thought to be alive hours earlier.Earlier, as a pregnant woman and her two children were also pulled out of the rubble, reviving hopes for those still searching for loved ones.
Turkish officials have promised more aid to those in need, saying 12,000 more tents would be delivered to the region.
Survivors and opposition politicians have criticised the government for failing to provide enough supplies.
Rescue teams with sniffer dogs continued to search for survivors under the rubble through the night and into Tuesday.
Cranes have been lifting slabs of concrete, and many residents have been joining in the rescue effort, digging with shovels.
In Ercis, one of the worst-hit cities, Derya Coskun, her daughter Elif and son Ozer were removed from the debris after being found by emergency workers.
A two-week-old baby girl is rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building.
Meanwhile, TV footage showed a couple, a police officer and his wife being pulled out of a public building, AFP reports.
But hopes are fading for many more who remain unaccounted for, and Turkish officials warn that the death toll is likely to rise.
In one building there are fears that up to 50 could be buried under the rubble.
'Shivering'
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay, in charge of the relief operation, said late on Monday that "from today there will be nothing our people lack".
His announcement came after some survivors complained that not enough help was reaching them.
"We shivered all night long, nobody provided us with any blankets or heaters, we don't even have a toilet," one woman, who is staying in a tent, told the BBC.
In Ercis, a lorry loaded with supplies was mobbed by young men who climbed the sides to claim tents and blankets, leaving the older and less able shouting in anger.Opposition politicians earlier decried what they called "a lack of crisis management" and said Ankara was wrong to refuse offers of foreign aid.
Turkey is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on major geological fault lines.
No comments:
Post a Comment