Nearly 5,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, reports news agencies.
Turkey's death toll rose to at least 3,381 as of around 9:45 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Orhan Tatar, an official with the country's disaster management agency, said in a televised briefing. At least 20,426 injuries have also been reported, according to Tatar.
Meanwhile in Syria, the death toll has risen to 1,509 across areas controlled by the government and by the opposition, officials said, reported CNN. At least 3,548 people have also been reported injured in Syria, according to officials.
Meanwhile, the first Indian Air Force plane carrying disaster relief material and rescue team to support search and rescue efforts in Turkey has reached Adana in the earthquake-hit country, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.
The C17 flight with over 50 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and a specially trained dog squad along with necessary equipment, including medical supplies, drilling machines and other equipment equired for the aid efforts had departed for Turkey early this morning. Turkish Embassy in New Delhi tweeted: "First batch of earthquake relief material along with NDRF's special search & rescue teams and trained dog squads just arrived in Turkiye. Thank you India for your support and solidarity."
The Indian aviation regulator has held a meeting with Indian carriers over operating flights to Turkey for cargo movements in commercial scheduled flights. IndiGo has offered free cargo movement on its scheduled commercial flights using Boeing 777 aircraft to Istanbul." an aviation industry source told ANI.
A 101-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescuers, including five female personnel and a four-member canine squad, will help earthquake-hit Turkey from Tuesday. So far, 11,000 buildings have been reported damaged in Turkey, said Tatar. Nearly 25,000 emergency responders are working at scenes impacted, he added, reported CNN.
A 51-member team landed at Turkey's Adana airport this morning. The second team of another 50 members of the NDRF is on its way.
On Monday, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 centered in the Pazarcik district jolted Kahramanmaras and hit several provinces, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis, as per the Anadolu Agency report. Later in the day, an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude centred in Kahramanmaras's Elbistan district jolted the region. The earthquake was also felt in several neighbouring countries, including Lebanon and Syria. The third earthquake of magnitude 6.0 on the Richter scale hit Goksun, Turkey on Monday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.