Hopes fade for missing as Turkey quake toll rises

Hopes faded yesterday of finding more survivors from a powerful earthquake in eastern Turkey as more bodies were pulled from the rubble and the death toll climbed to 36.

Nearly 4,000 rescue workers combed through debris in freezing temperatures, helped by mechanical diggers, in vain hopes of finding anyone further alive in the city of Elazig.

Four bodies were found in the city centre, 38 hours after the 6.8-magnitude quake struck Friday evening, bringing the death toll to 36 in Elazig province and nearby Malatya, state broadcaster TRT reported.

Rescuers carefully cleared the remains of the collapsed four-storey building where the bodies were found, using buckets to remove broken material as a sniffer dog was brought to the scene.

Workers were searching for five people still under the rubble. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said he “still had hope”.

Residents nervously waited to find out what happened to their relatives. A group of women burst into tears when they learnt that the body of a relative had been found, while one woman fainted, an AFP photographer said.

Nearby a Red Crescent official tried to calm down another woman whose cousin was missing, urging her to be patient.

“We are doing everything we can.”

So far, the authorities say 45 people have been rescued alive.

The government’s disaster and emergency management agency (AFAD) said 1,607 were injured including 104 still in hospital.

The story of Syrian university student Mahmud al Osman, who used only his bare hands to rescue a man and woman from underneath rubble, went viral.

Osman told state news agency Anadolu he heard voices after the quake ended while Durdane and Zulkuf Aydin said they shouted when they saw Osman’s telephone light before he and others helped rescue them.

Turkey is home to 3.6 million Syrians in Turkey and although there are limited social problems, tensions have increased following an economic downturn.