Turkey, Syria quake toll nears 42,000

The number of people killed in a devastating earthquake that struck the Turkey-Syria border area neared 42,000 on Thursday, as search and rescue efforts continued 10 days later.

In Turkey alone, 36,187 people died across 11 provinces, State News Agency, Anadolu cited disaster authority, AFAD as saying.

Combined with the deaths in Syria, the total confirmed toll is 41,838.

The first quake of magnitude 7.7 struck Turkey and Syria in the early hours of Feb. 6.

Another large tremor hit at noon that day and there were more than 3,800 aftershocks, AFAD said late Wednesday.

Over 50,000 buildings had been damaged in Turkey alone.

More than 100,000 people were injured and about 13,200 of them were still being treated in hospitals, AFAD said.

Turkish and foreign rescue teams continued their efforts in spite of the minimal chances of finding survivors.

Late on Wednesday, a 13-year-old boy named Mustafa was pulled from the rubble in Anktakya, the capital of Hatay province, 228 hours after the deadly jolt hit, the Istanbul city emergency service has said.

NATO Secretary, Stoltenberg is due to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu, on Thursday and to visit areas affected by the earthquake.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected in Turkey on Sunday.

(TNT/NAN)