The death toll from the February 6 devastating earthquakes in southern Turkey has exceeded 50 000, several Turkish media outlets reported on Monday, citing Head of Turkey’s disaster and emergencies management agency (AFAD) Yunus Sezer.
“The death toll from the earthquakes with an epicenter in Kahramanmaras has risen to 50,096. As many as 107,204 people were hurt,” Sezer said.
More than 300 people have been arrested on charges of being responsible for the technical state and the compliance with construction standards, reports further revealed.
In total, there are over 13.5 million people in Türkiye who have been affected by the earthquakes, as well as thousands of others in northern Syria. Preliminary data indicates that damages caused by the quakes have gone beyond the $100 billion mark.
The destruction is labelled as one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history.
