Over 8,000 people have been rescued in Turkey from under the rubble after earthquakes, the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.
"Unfortunately, the death toll is rising as the rubble of thousands of collapsed houses is being removed. In total, more than 8,000 people have been rescued. More than 81,000 people have been injured, most have already been discharged from hospitals," the president said in a video message to the World Government Summit taking place in Dubai. The recording of Erdogan's speech was released by his office.
"We expect to heal our wounds from this scourge of the century soon. We plan to rebuild all destroyed cities quickly. More than 100 countries around the world, especially the Arab states, have sent us aid or offered words of condolence," the president added.
As a result of the earthquakes in the south-east of Turkey, which happened on February 6, 31,643 people died, with over 81,000 people affected. Some 6,444 buildings were destroyed. Rescue and debris removal works are still going on in the disaster areas. Temperatures are dropping to subzero levels at night.
