Turkey has been digging survivors out of the rubble, but many families are praying to find a body to mourn.

ANTAKYA/KAHRAMANMARAS: People were still being dug out of the rubble in Turkey after the earthquake, but many grieving families’ only hope is that the remains of their loved ones will be found so they can mourn at their grave site.

“Would you pray for a dead body to show up? We do this so that the body can be given to the family “Akin Bozkurt, who was driving a bulldozer in the town of Kahramanmaras, said this as his machine dug into the rubble of a building that had been destroyed.

“You find a body buried under tonnes of trash. Hopeful families are waiting, “Bozkurt said. “They want there to be a funeral. They want to be buried.”

Muslim tradition says that the dead should be buried as soon as possible.

Yunus Sezer, who is in charge of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, said that most search and rescue work will be done by Sunday night.

Since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, more than 46,000 people have died. The number of people killed is likely to go up. So far, about 345,000 apartments in Turkey have been destroyed, and many people are still missing.

A group of people looking for missing people look through the cracks in the rubble of a house. Leyla Habip and Nejat Habip in Hatay, Turkey, on February 18, 2023, after the earthquake that killed many people. — Reuters
A group of people looking for missing people look through the cracks in the rubble of a house. Leyla Habip and Nejat Habip in Hatay, Turkey, on February 18, 2023, after the earthquake that killed many people. — Reuters
After the earthquake, neither Turkey nor Syria has said how many people are still missing.

Twelve days after the earthquake, workers from Kyrgyzstan tried to save a Syrian family of five from the rubble of a building in the southern Turkish city of Antakya.

A child was among the three people who were saved. The mother and father both made it out alive, but the child died later from being too dehydrated. An older sister and a twin did not make it.

“We heard shouts today while we were digging. We are always happy when we find people who are still alive “Atay Osmanov, who was on the rescue team, told Reuters about what happened.

Ten ambulances waited on a nearby street that had been blocked off so rescue workers could do their work.

Workers asked everyone to be quiet and crouch or sit down as they climbed to the top of the rubble of the building where the family was found to use an electronic detector to listen for any more sounds.

As rescue efforts went on, one worker yelled into the rubble, “Take a deep breath if you can hear me.”

Because the infrastructure for sanitation is broken, health officials are worried about the spread of disease.

The World Health Organization says that between 26 and 30 million people in Turkey and Syria need help.

After a deadly earthquake on February 18, 2023, in Syria, rebels control the town of Jandaris. On that day, a UN delegation is seen driving through the town.

— Reuters
After a deadly earthquake on February 18, 2023, in Syria, rebels control the town of Jandaris. On that day, a UN delegation is seen driving through the town.
— Reuters
Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, will go to Turkey on Sunday to talk about how Washington can help Ankara more as it deals with the effects of its worst natural disaster in modern times.

In Syria, where more than 5,800 people have died, the World Food Programme (WFP) said that access to the northwest of the country was being blocked by the government.

“That makes it hard for us to do our work. That needs to be fixed as soon as possible, “David Beasley, who is in charge of the WFP, told Reuters this while at the Munich Security Conference.

Most of the deaths in Syria happen in the northwest, which is controlled by rebels at war with President Bashar al-forces. Assad’s

“We are running out of both time and money. Our earthquake response alone costs about $50 million a month. If Europe doesn’t want a new wave of refugees, we need to get the help we need “Beasley put in.

Thousands of Syrians who had fled to Turkey because of the civil war have now gone back to their homes in the war zone.