The death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquakes has passed 17,000.
At least 14,000 people have died in Turkey, according to the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while at least 3,162 have been killed in Syria.
He said more than 6,400 buildings had been destroyed and that Turkey aimed to build new three and four-storey buildings in the region within one year.
According to Aljazeera, the president’s latest update sums up the total number of people killed in Turkey and Syria climbed to 17,172.
The full extent of the disaster may not be clear for weeks, given the scale of the damage, with entire neighborhoods reduced to ruins.
Already, it ranks as the world’s deadliest earthquake disaster in more than a decade.
International organizations have offered help in rescuing victims.
Source: Aljazeera
