Turkey’s disaster management agency Afad says search and rescue operations are going to be carried out in most provinces.

The country’s government announced the end of operations almost two weeks after the powerful earthquake struck.

In a press conference on Saturday, the head of Afad, Younis Sezer, said that the number of dead has increased to 40,642. Rescue operations from the rubble have been completed in most provinces.

He said, we believe, we can finish rescue and search operations tomorrow night.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey’s southeastern region and neighboring Syria in the early hours of February 6. The death toll in the two countries has exceeded 46,000 in this earthquake. Millions of people have been displaced.

“We are facing perhaps the greatest disaster in history,” Eunice Cesar said.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Syria is more than 5,800. Mostly in the North West. This number has not changed in the last few days.

According to the World Health Organization, 26 million people in Turkey and Syria need humanitarian assistance.

Bangladesh Time: 2016 hours, February 19, 2023
RH