Death toll in Turkey, Syria surpasses 40,000 as Ankara promises 3,00,000 fresh houses

The death toll from the February 6 earthquake across Turkey and Syria has surpassed 40,000. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday that atleast 35,418 people had been killed by the quake, making it the country's deadliest disaster since it was founded 100 years ago. According to the United Nations and the Syrian government, the death toll in the war-torn country is more than 5,800.

While the death toll is almost certain to rise even further, many of the tens of thousands of survivors left homeless were still struggling to meet basic needs, like finding shelter from the bitter cold. Confirmed deaths in Turkey passed those recorded from the massive Erzincan earthquake in 1939 that killed around 33,000 people.

Erdogan said 1,05,505 were injured as a direct result of the earthquake and its countless aftershocks. More than 8,000 people have been pulled out alive from the rubble in Turkey, he said, adding that more than 13,000 people were still being treated in hospitals.

The World Health Organisation describes the earthquakes in Turkey as the worst natural disaster of Europe in a century. The UN estimated up to 5.3 million people in Syria may be homeless after the earthquakes. 

“In Turkey, the total number of children living in the 10 provinces hit by the two earthquakes was 4.6 million children. In Syria, 2.5 million children are affected,” James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday. “UNICEF fears many thousands of children have been killed,” Elder said, warning that “even without verified numbers, it is tragically clear that numbers will continue grow”.

3,00,000 new residential buildings for Turkey

Nearly 300,000 new residential houses will be built in Turkey's earthquake-hit regions to make up for the lost housing stock, Russian news outlet TASS reported citing Turkey's Yeni Safak newspaper on Wednesday.

The extensive inspection found out that more than 2,11,000 buildings have suffered severe or critical damage. According to available information, a total of about 3,70,000 buildings were inspected. There is a need to rebuild 4,00,000 buildings, of which about 3,00,000 is the housing stock, in the 10 affected provinces.

The Directorate of Housing and Urban Development of Turkey has already started to working on the reconstruction plan. At the first stage, it will build a total of 30,000 buildings, and by June this figure will go up to 1,00,000.