Turkey-Syria earthquake death toll crosses 24,000

The death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquake has reached 24,000 as rescuers continued to work around the clock to find survivors.

In Turkey, the number of fatalities has risen to 20,665, the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) has said.

It said that nearly 93,000 victims have been evacuated from the quake zone in southern Turkey and that more than 166,000 personnel were involved in the rescue and relief efforts.

Meanwhile in Syria, more than 3,500 people have been reported dead.

At least 870,000 people urgently needed food in the two countries after the quake, which has made up to 5.3 million people homeless in Syria alone, the UN warned.

Search and rescue teams from Indonesia have departed for Turkey to assist with the international aid effort following this week’s deadly earthquakes.

Two military aircraft with more than 50 staff and 24 tonnes of aid were dispatched from the Halim Perdanakusuma air force base in Jakarta on Saturday.

“Our task in this first batch is attached to the SAR (search and rescue) team or the response agency in Turkey, this team will get SAR assignments around the Hatay area to search for victims in collapsed buildings,” Bambang Suryaputra, an official with Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management, said before departure.

Partner of missing footballer Christian Atsu appeals for rescue effort in Turkey

Claire Rupio, the partner of Ghanaian football player Christian Atsu who remains missing in Turkey following Monday’s earthquakes, has called for equipment to be sent to the collapsed building where the Hatayspor winger was living in Hatay province.

Atsu, 31, was initially reported to have been rescued from the rubble with injuries and transported to hospital after the quakes. However, Hatayspor team director Volkan Demirel later said the Ghanaian player was still missing.

“The club was confirming that they had found him and that he was alive and had taken him to hospital, and 11 hours later my children had to hear on the radio that they still didn’t know where he was,” Rupio told BBC News on Friday. “I still pray and believe he is alive,” said Rupio, who lives in Newcastle, United Kingdom, where Atsu once played.

“I appeal to the Hatayspor club, the Turkish authorities and the British government to send the necessary equipment to get people out of the rubble, especially my partner and father of my children,” she said.

Rupio said that Nana Sechere, Atsu’s agent, is now in Turkey trying to reach the building in Hatay where he lived.