More than a million people go to reception centers in Turkey after the earthquakes

11 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Turkish authorities have detailed that more than a million people have gone to reception centers and temporary shelters since the earthquakes registered last Monday in the south of the country, on the border with Syria.

“So far, we are sheltering more than a million of our citizens in temporary shelters. We meet their basic needs, including their food,” said Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, after chairing a press conference of the Disaster Management Authority. and Emergencies (AFAD), as reported by the Turkish state news agency, Anatolia.

The high number of people in reception centers is due to the fact that many people have lost their homes and the cold temperatures that are being recorded these days in the south of the country, as detailed by Erdogan’s ‘number two’.

Likewise, the Turkish authorities have appealed to the victims to leave the area, recalling that 1,666 aftershocks have been registered since Monday and that it is appropriate to leave the houses until damage assessments are carried out.

“So far, approximately 190,000 of our citizens have been evacuated out of the region through evacuation operations. About 90,000 of them are in temporary shelters set up outside the region, and the rest are with their families,” he said. Oktay related during his speech.

In this sense, the vice president of the country has assured that the Government is doing “everything possible” for the victims of the earthquakes, urging the population that needs it to go to evacuation centers.

Stating that 67 citizens have been pulled alive from the rubble in the past 24 hours, Oktay said this “warms hearts and keeps hopes alive,” especially as it becomes increasingly difficult to find survivors with each passing hour.

“I would like to thank our 31,254 search and rescue personnel in the field, for keeping our nation’s hope and hope alive and not losing their motivation,” he said.

The Turkish health authorities have reported this Friday that 20,213 people have died in their country alone due to the earthquakes registered on Monday on the southern border with Syria.

The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has stressed that some 75,000 people have been brought to safety despite the “setbacks” suffered by the rescue teams. For its part, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), under the Ministry of the Interior, has detailed that the number of injured now stands at 80,012, according to the Turkish state news agency, Anatolia.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reported that a total of 97 countries have offered assistance and that search and rescue teams from another 61 are involved in clearing the rubble in the affected areas. In total, on the ground there are some 6,810 people collaborating from other nations.