Death toll up to 114 in Turkey’s earthquake, rescue completed

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) on Wednesday said that a total of 114 people were killed, 1,035 others wounded in a strong earthquake that hit the western province of Izmir.

In a written statement, AFAD said 137 citizens are still under treatment in hospitals.

Mehmet Gulluoglu, head of AFAD, announced on his Twitter account that the rescue operations were completed in all the 17 collapsed buildings.

Previously, authorities had said a total of 107 people were pulled out alive from the ruins.

Izmir Mayor, Tunc Soyer launched an aid campaign on Tuesday dubbed “One Rent One Home’’ for those whose apartment buildings collapsed or were heavily damaged.

Those who want to provide rent support or open their homes for citizens who are in need can submit their notifications online, he said in a written statement.

“Five hours after we announced the campaign, we received over 2 million Turkish liras (approximately 235,000 U.S. dollars) of rent support,” Mr Soyer announced on his Twitter account.

“We have retrieved 200 families from staying in tents thanks to this amount.’’

Currently, there are 8,000 temporary shelters established across the province for the earthquake survivors.

According to the AFAD statement, the government has allocated 29 million liras of resources to the region.

A 6.6-magnitude strong earthquake hit the Aegean Sea off the Seferihisar district of Izmir on Friday.

(Xinhua/NAN)