Erdogan visits earthquake-stricken provinces

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is making his second visit to provinces devastated by the February 6 earthquake, as search and rescue efforts for survivors of the worst disaster in history modern Turkey are ongoing. .

Here’s a look at Monday’s highlights:

DEATH TOLL APPROACHES 45,000

Turkey’s disaster management agency AFAD put the death toll from the earthquake in Turkey at 41,156. This brings the total death toll in Turkey and Syria to 44,844.

Search and rescue operations for survivors have been called off across much of the quake area, but AFAD chief Yunus Sezer told reporters that search teams were continuing their efforts in more than one dozen buildings collapsed, most in Hatay, the most affected province.

There has been no sign anyone has been pulled out alive since a family – mother, father and their 12-year-old son – were pulled from a collapsed building in Hatay on Saturday. The child later died.

SEE RISK OF DISEASE

The European Union health agency has warned of the risk of outbreaks in the coming weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said “food and waterborne illnesses, respiratory infections, and vaccine-preventable infections are a risk in the coming period, with the potential to cause epidemics, especially when survivors move to temporary shelters.

The agency also warned of viral infections such as hepatitis A, parasites and bacterial infections that can be spread through harsh hygienic conditions in emergency camps.

SYRIA DEMANDS TEMPORARY HOUSING

Syrian Housing and Public Works Minister Suhail Abdul Latif said the Syrian government would secure 350 homes for those displaced by the quake and called on “friendly countries” to send more.

Shelter was a pressing need in all the quake-affected areas, with many families sleeping in makeshift tents or cramming into crowded schools and sports stadiums.

NATO SHIPS CONTAINERS HOME

NATO said a ship carrying 600 temporary containers had left Italy and was expected to arrive in Turkey next week.

The military alliance has pledged to send more than 1,000 containers which will serve as temporary shelter for at least 4,000 people left homeless by the quake.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who visited the quake-ravaged region last week, called it the worst disaster in the alliance’s history.

Authorities say more than 110,000 buildings in 11 earthquake-hit Turkish provinces have been destroyed or so badly damaged that they need to be demolished.