Afimag.com –
The death toll from the heartbreaking tremor in Turkey and Syria has reached 45,000 as the number of people found alive under the rubble dropped within recent days.
Chieftain of Turkey’s Disaster Agency, Yunus Sezer, said rescue operations would be “largely completed” by Sunday night.
Earlier, Africa Investigative Magazine (AFIMAG) reported that the body of former Ghana international footballer, Christian Atsu, was found death under his collapsed building in Antakya, contrary to reports that he was rescued alive with injuries.
On BBC new Live coverage monitored by AFIMAG on February 18, 2023, it was said that three people were found alive nearly two weeks after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit on February 6. But the agency later reported that one of them, a 12-year-old, had died.
Rescuers were placing a man and a woman on stretchers after the married couple and a child spent 296 hours under the rubble in the southeastern Turkish city of Antakya.
On a different development, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca conveyed a video of the 40-year-old mother in a field hospital receiving treatment.
According to BBC correspondents, rescuers from Kyrgyzstan continued working in Antakya with the hope of finding more people pulled out alive after thermal tests showed signs of life.
On February 17, 2023, rescue team removed four persons alive from the rubble, including a 45-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy, in the surrounding Hatay province.
The disaster, nevertheless, has mounted tension on Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the slow response to the quake and why his government permitted such poor-quality buildings to be set up.
