The rescue of several survivors from the rubble of buildings in Turkey lifted the spirits of weary search crews, four days after a major earthquake struck the country and neighboring Syria, killing at least 20,000 people
The death toll in Turkey rose to 17,674 by Thursday night, Vice President Fuat Oktay said. In Syria, already devastated by nearly 12 years of civil war, more than 3,300 people have died, according to the government and a rescue service in the rebel-held northwest.of Jandaris, Ibrahim Khalil Menkaween walked in the rubble-strewn streets clutching a white body bag. He said he had lost seven members of his family, including his wife and two brothers.
Turkish officials say some 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 450 km from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east. In Syria, people were killed as far south as Hama, 250 km from the epicentre. Teams called for silence, asking all vehicles and generators to stop and reporters to keep quiet as they listened for any sound of life from the mangled concrete.
The World Bank is providing Turkey with $1.78 billion in relief and recovery financing, $780 million of which will become available immediately. The U.S. Agency for International Development will provide $85 million in urgent humanitarian assistance to Turkey and Syria.The U.N. aid convoy entered Syria at the Bab Al Hawa crossing - a lifeline for accessing opposition-controlled areas where some 4 million people, many displaced by the war, were already relying on humanitarian aid.
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