The sky over the city of Iskenderun in southern Turkey has been obscured by a huge plume of black smoke since Monday. A few hours after the violent earthquakes in the region, containers at the port, which overturned under the effect of the tremors, caught fire.
More than 4,800 dead in Turkey and Syria: “This double earthquake is unusual”
The fire, which remained uncontrolled this Tuesday at midday, weighs as further damage for this city on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean already heavily hit in terms of loss of human life and material damage after the wave of powerful earthquake.
The toll of these heavy tremors now exceeds 5,000 dead in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria; and this number of deaths is very likely to increase over the coming days, the WHO itself indicating that it expects the worst and fears “Balance sheets eight times higher than the initial numbers”.
5,000 buildings collapsed in Turkey
In Turkey alone, the authorities have counted nearly 5,000 collapsed buildings. And the drastic drop in temperatures puts the wounded, stuck in the ruins, at an additional risk of hypothermia.
What we know about the earthquakes that killed more than 3,600 people in Turkey and Syria
The search for survivors therefore continued on Tuesday, a real race against the passing hours and the freezing cold.
This earthquake is the largest in Turkey since the earthquake of August 17, 1999, which caused the death of 17,000 people, including a thousand in Istanbul. The country is in national mourning for seven days.
