Ankara, Jan 23 (EFE).- The death toll from the earthquakes, which shook 11 southeastern provinces of Turkey on February 6 with magnitudes 7.7 and 7.6, has risen to 43,556 people, according to the authorities.
Speaking last night to the public broadcaster TRT, the Minister of the Interior, Süleyman Soylu, specified that in the province of Hatay, the most affected by the earthquake, there are still some buildings with people under the rubble.
“Search and rescue work in all other parts has finished. Construction of containers has started. The infrastructure of 100,000 containers is being created. In two months we will have completed them,” he said.
According to Soylu, who called the quake the “biggest in the world”, 600,000 homes were destroyed, as were some 150,000 commercial stores.
The minister assured, on the other hand, that the authorities have identified half a thousand builders, supposedly responsible for constructions that did not comply with safety regulations against earthquakes.
Some 160 people have been detained so far, Soylu concluded. EFE
DT-jk/cc
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