Death toll from Türkiye’s quakes tops 48,440: Interior Minister Soylu

The death toll from the Kahramanmaraş-centered twin earthquakes in Türkiye’s southeast has reached 48,448, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu informed Monday.

The catastrophic 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes – nine hours apart – struck the southeastern region of Türkiye and neighboring Syria on Feb. 6 and razed thousands of buildings besides inflicting severe infrastructural damage.

Debris removal continues, and 10,000 of a total of 56,000 damaged buildings have now been demolished and their debris removed. The country continues to meet the housing needs of quake victims, said Soylu at a news conference in quake-hit Malatya province along with Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

He further added that 21,000 containers were already set up, housing a total of 85,000 people, and that the country plans to set up 115,585 containers in total in the quake-hit region.

“The number of tents distributed and set up by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) stands at 433,536 so far and the number of tent cities stood at 354,” he added.

More than 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the devastating quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.

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