Death toll surpasses 14,000 in Türkiye as rescuers race against clock to save survivors

Rescuers carry out rescue operation with rescue dogs in Adiyaman, Trkiye, Feb. 8, 2023. The death toll from Monday's devastating earthquakes in Trkiye and Syria has surpassed 17,000, according to latest data. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

ANKARA, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- People in Trkiye are racing against the clock to search for more survivors in the deadly earthquakes, while the chances are diminishing as the relief effort enters its fourth day.

The death toll from Monday's devastating earthquake in Trkiye has risen to 14,014, with other 63,794 injured so far, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

A state of emergency decision for 10 quake-affected provinces will take effect after voted today at the parliament as of Thursday afternoon, Erdogan told reporters when visiting the southern Gaziantep province where he inspected the emergency response.

The government will intervene in the incidents of looting in quake zones with the authority provided by a state of emergency, the Turkish president said.

"In some places, unfortunately, there is looting in the markets, and shopping malls. The state will intervene in these lootings under the state of emergency after obtaining the authority from the parliament," he said.

The government will immediately start work for new housing in the disaster region, while the containers are being provided for temporary accommodation at the moment, Erdogan explained.

Hundreds of rescued but unattended children are dispatched to the hospitals in Trkiye's big cities Istanbul and Ankara.

On Wednesday, Erdogan acknowledged the "shortcomings" in the government's initial response to the disaster but reassured that they had managed to handle the efforts to help the victims since the second day of the disaster.

HOLD ON TO HOPE

Nevertheless, although the golden 72 hours of rescue have passed, people are still doing their best to search and rescue in firm faith and hope under the cold weather.

Turkish rescue teams pulled out a 60-year-old woman named Meral Nakir from the rubble of an apartment in Malatya province 77 hours after Monday's quake, the state broadcaster TRT showed.

The injured woman was rescued from the rubble of a 6-storey building with the help of a trained dog "Kopuk" (Foam). The Golden Retriever served in the same wreck for two days and saved six people alive.

A Chinese rescue team, working with local partners, rescued a pregnant woman from a collapsed 8-story building early Thursday in southern Hatay province.

More than 100 members of China's Blue Sky Rescue team arrived in Trkiye on Thursday to join the rescue work after deadly earthquakes hit the country.

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Trkiye's southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT), followed by a magnitude 6.4 quake a few minutes later in the country's southern province of Gaziantep and a magnitude 7.6 earthquake at 1:24 p.m. local time (1024 GMT) in Kahramanmaras Province.

Rescuers carry out rescue operation with a rescue dog on earthquake debris in Adiyaman, Trkiye, Feb. 8, 2023. The death toll from Monday's devastating earthquakes in Trkiye and Syria has surpassed 17,000, according to latest data. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

Rescuers carry out rescue operation with rescue dogs in Adiyaman, Trkiye, Feb. 8, 2023. The death toll from Monday's devastating earthquakes in Trkiye and Syria has surpassed 17,000, according to latest data. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

A rescuer leads a rescue dog to participate in rescue operation in Adiyaman, Trkiye, Feb. 8, 2023. The death toll from Monday's devastating earthquakes in Trkiye and Syria has surpassed 17,000, according to latest data. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

A rescuer carries out rescue operation with a rescue dog on earthquake debris in Kahramanmaras, Trkiye, Feb. 7, 2023. The death toll from Monday's devastating earthquakes in Trkiye and Syria has surpassed 17,000, according to latest data. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)