Death Toll From Devastating Earthquakes In Turkey Exceeds 49,500 - Vice President

The death toll from the devastating earthquakes in Turkey's southeast has exceeded 49,500, including around 7,000 foreigners, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Saturday

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2023) The death toll from the devastating earthquakes in Turkey's southeast has exceeded 49,500, including around 7,000 foreigners, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Saturday.

"As a result of the earthquakes in the center of (Turkey's province of) Kahramanmaras, 49,589 people have died, including 6,807 foreign citizens," Oktay was quoted as saying by Turkish newspaper Star.

The vice president added that the Turkish authorities have already cleaned up over 20% of rubble from the buildings that collapsed during the disaster.

On February 6, two earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 hit the southeastern regions of Turkey with an interval of nine hours. Thousands of underground shocks that followed were felt in 11 Turkish provinces, as well as in the neighboring countries, of which Syria was affected the most.