The death toll from the earthquakes that struck southern Turkey on February 6 has risen to 35,418, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Tuesday evening.
Erdogan gave an update on the situation at a press conference he held from the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) in Ankara, according to Turkish news agency Anadolu.
The Turkish President said that “35,418 people lost their lives in the devastating earthquakes that hit the south of the country, while 13,208 injured are still in hospital”.
In addition, Mr. Erdogan assured that the Turkish government “has taken all measures to alleviate the problems faced by the victims and to make their lives easier”.
Erdogan said that from the beginning of March, the construction of 30,000 homes will be launched and that the government gives itself a year to build the housing needed to accommodate all those affected.
The Turkish President announced the granting of emergency aid of 100,000 lire (5 thousand euros) to the relatives of those who lost their lives in the earthquakes.
“Local and international aid sent to AFAD has so far reached 8.3 billion liras (410 million euros),” the Turkish president also announced.
At dawn on Monday, an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed a few hours later by another earthquake of 7.6 magnitude and violent aftershocks, which caused huge losses of life and damage in both countries.
