A week after the earthquake that devastated southern Turkey and north-western Syria, the number of victims continues to increase.
More than 40,000 dead: 40,943 to be precise, 31,643 in Turkey, 9,300 in Syria according to this morning's update.
Among the various lifeless bodies in the rubble, there are still some miraculous rescues. That of Bunyamin Idaci: 35 years old, was extracted alive by rescuers after spending 177 hours under the rubble of one of the buildings that collapsed in the earthquake in Adiyaman , one of the hardest hit Turkish cities. The same fate befell 26-year-old Derya Akdogan in Antioch, while a 7-month-old baby survived for 140 hours in the rubble of his home in Antakya.
Meanwhile, the Turkish authorities have arrested more than 100 builders on charges of violating the country's building regulations . Ankara's Ministry of Justice has authorized prosecutors to initiate cases against all the "builders and perpetrators" of the collapses because they did not comply with the rules introduced after the 1999 earthquake.
(Unioneonline/L)
