Turkey, Syria with over 33,000 deaths
More than twice as much golden time has passed, but the rescue team’s whole body’
Rescue and demolition works in Turkiye Antakya on the 10th (local time), the 5th day of the Turkiye earthquake. Antakya (Turkiye)｜Reporter Moon Jae-won
Rescue efforts continue to rescue survivors as the number of confirmed deaths has so far surpassed 33,000 in the week since the devastating earthquake struck Turkey and Syria.
According to Reuters and others on the 12th (local time), the total number of deaths in Turkey and Syria combined was 33,179, far exceeding the damage scale of the 2003 Iranian earthquake (31,000 deaths). It was recorded as the 6th most deadly natural disaster in history in the 21st century.
The United Nations predicts that the death toll could more than double in the coming years.
Even in the midst of such a gloomy prospect, the ‘golden time’, which is usually considered 72 hours after the earthquake, has passed more than twice, but news of miraculous survival is still being reported.
In Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey, the first epicenter of the earthquake, a 17-year-old girl was rescued 159 hours after being trapped under the rubble of a building, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
In Adiyaman, southern Turkey, two sisters were rescued after 153 hours, local Haver Turk Broadcasting reported.
Minister of Health Parentin Coca-Turkiye said, “The little girl was rescued after 150 hours,” and said, “There is always hope.”
In addition, a 35-year-old Turkiye man is known to have returned to life after 149 hours of the earthquake. Even after the ‘golden time’ has passed, rescue cases are continuing in various places affected by the earthquake.
The Korean Overseas Emergency Relief Team (KDRT), which was dispatched to Turkey, rescued a total of eight survivors after starting rescue operations on the 9th.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Business Federation (Turkonfed) estimated that the economic loss to Turkey due to the strong earthquake exceeded 84 billion dollars (107 trillion won). This is equivalent to 10% of Turkey’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Turkonfed estimated that the earthquake caused damage worth 70.8 billion dollars (89.8 trillion won) to residential buildings and would cause an additional loss of national income of 10.4 billion dollars (13.2 trillion won). In addition, the labor force loss is expected to reach 2.9 billion dollars (3.7 trillion won).
