Turkey: Deputy PM says 239 dead in earthquake in eastern Turkey

The death toll in an earthquake which shook southeast Turkey on Sunday has risen to 239 people, with around 1,300 people injured, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay told a news conference today.

Atalay, coordinating the government’s response at the quake zone in Van province, said tents were being assembled and food distributed as part of a major relief and rescue operation. The death toll was expected to rise further.

Rescue teams on Monday sifted through rubble of flattened multistory buildings to try to reach dozens of people believed trapped beneath after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey. The Interior Minister had said earlier today that the death toll in the powerful quake had increased to 217.

Hundreds of rescue teams worked throughout the night searching for survivors among dozens of pancaked buildings, as aid groups scrambled to set up tents, field hospitals and kitchens to assist thousands left homeless.

Interior Minister Idris Naim Şahin had said about 80 multistory buildings collapsed in the city of Erciş alone when the earthquake struck Sunday. He said some 40 buildings still had people trapped inside, giving rise to fears that the death toll could increase substantially. The minister had not given any estimates.

“Rescue work is ongoing, especially at buildings where (rescuers) have determined survivors,” Şahin said.

The hardest-hit area was Erciş, an eastern city of 75,000 close to the Iranian border and on one of Turkey’s most earthquake-prone zones. The bustling city of Van, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) south of Erciş, also sustained substantial damage. Highways in the area caved in.

Authorities advised people to stay away from damaged homes, warning they could collapse in the aftershocks.
Residents spent the night outdoors and lit campfires, while the Red Crescent began setting up tents in a stadium. Others sought shelter with relatives in nearby villages.

Rescue efforts went deep into the night under generator-powered floodlights. Workers tied steel rods around large concrete slabs in Van, then lifted them with heavy machinery.

Around 1,275 rescue teams from 38 provinces were being sent to the region, officials said, and troops were also assisting search-and-rescue efforts.

Monday, October 24, 2011
SOURCE: HURRIYET DAILY NEWS