Turkey and Syria earthquake: Frantic rescue efforts continue as as number of killed rises
Frantic rescue efforts are continuing as hundreds of people are trapped under rubble following a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake early Monday morning that rocked south-eastern Turkey and northern Syria killing more than 2,600.
The number of dead is expected to rise as rescue workers search the wreckage in cities and towns across the region.
At least 20 aftershocks followed, some hours later during daylight, the strongest with a magnitude of 6.6, Turkish authorities said.
Rescue workers and residents in multiple cities have been searching for survivors, working through tangles of metal and giant piles of concrete.
Turkey-Syria earthquake – latest updates
A hospital in Turkey also collapsed and patients, including newborn babies, were evacuated from a handful of facilities in Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “Because the debris removal efforts are continuing in many buildings in the earthquake zone, we do not know how high the number of dead and injured will rise.
“Hopefully, we will leave these disastrous days behind us in unity and solidarity as a country and a nation.”
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Aftershock hits during news report in Malatya
The quake, felt as far away as Cairo, was centred on Turkey’s south-eastern province of Kahramanmaras.
It struck a region that has been shaped on both sides of the border by more than a decade of civil war in Syria.
Latest figures from Turkey’s disaster agency show 1,651 fatalities have been recorded in 10 provinces, with some 7,600 injured.
In Syria’s government-controlled areas, a total of 538 people have died.
The Syrian Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets, has confirmed 430 fatalities in opposition-held areas, which are packed with about four million people displaced from other parts of the country by the fighting.
Hundreds of families remain trapped in the rubble, according to the White Helmets.
Strained health facilities and hospitals were quickly filled with wounded, rescue workers said. Others had to be emptied, including a maternity hospital, according to the SAMS medical organisation.
“We fear that the deaths are in the hundreds,” Dr Muheeb Qaddour said by phone from the town of Atmeh, in northern Syria.
Buildings were reported collapsed in a wide area extending from Syria’s cities of Aleppo and Hama to Turkey’s Diyarbakir, more than 200 miles to the north-east.
Rescuers carry out a girl from a collapsed building following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey
Building collapses following quake in Malatya, Turkey
Nearly 900 buildings were destroyed in Turkey’s Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras provinces, said vice president Fuat Oktay.
A hospital collapsed in the Mediterranean coastal city of Iskenderun, but casualties were not immediately known, he said.
“Unfortunately, at the same time, we are also struggling with extremely severe weather conditions,” Mr Oktay told reporters.
Nearly 2,800 search and rescue teams have been deployed in the disaster-stricken areas, he added.
The US Geological Survey measured Monday’s quake at 7.8. Hours later, a 7.5 magnitude one struck more than 60 miles away.
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An official from Turkey’s disaster management agency said it was a new earthquake, not an aftershock, though its effects were not immediately clear.
The quake heavily damaged Gaziantep’s most famed landmark, its historic castle perched on a hill in the centre of the city.
Parts of the fortresses’ walls and watch towers were levelled and other parts heavily damaged.
Gaziantep castle in Gaziantep, Turkey
In Diyarbakir, hundreds of rescue workers and civilians formed lines across a mountain of wreckage, passing down broken concrete pieces, household belongings and other debris as they searched for trapped survivors.
In north-west Syria, the quake added new woes to the opposition-held enclave centred on the province of Idlib.
The opposition’s Syrian Civil Defence described the situation there as “disastrous”, adding that entire buildings have collapsed and people are trapped under the rubble.
A wounded man looks on as rescuers search for survivors under the rubble, following an earthquake in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria
Civil defense workers and residents search through rubble in the Syrian town of Harem (Pic: AP)
In the small Syrian rebel-held town of Azmarin in the mountains by the Turkish border, the bodies of several dead children, wrapped in blankets, were brought to a hospital.
“It was like the apocalypse,” said Abdul Salam al-Mahmoud, a Syrian in the northern town of Atareb.
“It’s bitterly cold and there’s heavy rain, and people need saving.”
Mr Erdogan said early on Monday that 45 countries had offered help with search and rescue efforts.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the UK government would be “sending immediate support”, with a team of 76 search-and-rescue specialists, equipment and four search dogs being sent to Turkey.
He said: “We have deployed a large search and rescue team with state-of-the-art lifesaving equipment…
“With Syria of course the situation is more complicated. But we have given many years of support to the White Helmets… and will be working through our UN partners on the ground and have increased funding specifically in response to this situation.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted: “My thoughts are with the people of Turkiye and Syria this morning, particularly with those first responders working so valiantly to save those trapped by the earthquake.
“The UK stands ready to help in whatever way we can.”
Several fault lines run through Turkey and Syria
Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes.
At least 18,000 were killed in powerful earthquakes that hit northwest Turkey in 1999.
Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at University College London, told Sky News that Turkey and Syria have experienced “the worst kind of earthquake”.
“It’s a very shallow earthquake beneath a highly populated area, a very strong earthquake, and in a region where we can see the buildings just can’t withstand this level of shaking.”
Mr Hicks said there is a “small chance” there could be “stronger aftershocks” or even another earthquake “larger than the main shock”.
Hamas says the body of hostage Shiri Bibas has now been handed over, according to the group’s Al-Aqsa TV channel – as the Israeli military says it is checking the reports.
Israel said on Thursday that Ms Bibas was not among the four bodies handed over on Thursday as part of the ceasefire agreement, instead receiving an “anonymous body without identification”.
The failure to hand over the correct body caused outrage in Israel, and prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to vow that Hamas “pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation”.
Follow latest: Israel claims Hamas killed child hostages with their ‘bare hands’
In a short statement, the Red Cross confirmed it had received human remains and transferred them to Israeli authorities.
The statement did not specify whose remains were believed to be in transit.
Dr Salem Attalah, deputy secretary general for the Palestinian Mujahedeen Brigades, said it handed over Ms Bibas’ remains to the Red Cross.
The militant group is thought to have been holding the mother and her two boys, Kfir and Ariel.
Hamas previously claimed there was the “possibility of an error or overlap in the bodies” which may have been caused by Israel “targeting and bombing the place where the family was with other Palestinians”.
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Israel will ‘never forget and never forgive’
Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, later said “unfortunate mistakes” occurred and also suggested Israeli bombing had mixed the bodies of Israeli hostages and Palestinians.
He added in a statement: “We confirm that it is not in our values or our interest to keep any bodies or not to abide by the covenants and agreements that we sign.”
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: “Following the reports regarding Shiri Bibas, they are currently under review. IDF representatives are in contact with the family.”
Ms Bibas was kidnapped with her sons – four-year-old Ariel, and nine-month-old Kfir – from the Niz Or kibbutz during the group’s terror attack on Israel in October 2023.
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Hamas hands over bodies of Israeli hostages
The IDF confirmed the bodies of the two boys were positively identified on Thursday. However, it claimed the children had been murdered by Hamas with “bare hands”.
Hamas however claimed Ms Bibas and her children were all killed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023, near the start of the war.
It comes ahead of the next round of hostage releases on Saturday – the final one during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement, which came into effect last month.
The hostages due for release are Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Tal Shoham, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al Sayed and Avera Mengisto.
According to the Hamas prisoners’ media office, Israel will be releasing 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday, adding to the hundreds already released.
It also comes after Israeli defence minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to intensify operations in the West Bank after a series of bus explosions in a city near Tel Aviv.
Two of the blasts were in the city of Bat Yam on Thursday night, and a third was reported in the nearby town of Holon. No injuries were reported.
Hamas has named six Israeli hostages who are set to be released on Saturday while Israel is expected to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire agreement between the parties.
The hostages due for release are Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Tal Shoham, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengisto.
According to Hamas’s prisoners media office, Israel will be releasing 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday, adding to the hundreds already released since the ceasefire took effect last month.
The release of the hostages on Saturday is the final one in this phase of the Gaza truce deal.
Mr Mengisto and Mr al-Sayed are civilians who entered the besieged enclave of Gaza a decade ago and have been held there since.
(Clockwise) Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Tal Shoham, Avera Mengisto, Hisham al-Sayed and Omer Wenkert.
Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Tal Shoham, 39, taken from Be’eri. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Eliya Cohen, 27, taken from Nova Festival. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Israelis who survived being held prisoner in Gaza, where a powerful bombing campaign has left much of it destroyed, have been released in small groups since the first six-week phase began last month.
The start of negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire is expected in the coming days.
Omer Shem Tov, 21, taken from Nova Festival. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Omer Wenkert, 23, Taken from Nova Festival. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, taken from South Gaza. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Avera Mengisto, 38, taken From North Gaza. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Israel and Hamas have been at war since the latter, a militant group ruling Gaza, carried out a massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 and took 251 hostage.
The latest list of hostages set for release comes amid heightened tensions between the parties after Israel claimed the body of hostage Shiri Bibas wasn’t actually hers and it had instead received the remains of an “anonymous body without identification”.
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Shiri Bibas, 33, taken from Nir-Oz. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Hamas responded that Ms Bibas’s remains appear to have been mixed with other human remains in what it claims was an “Israeli airstrike”.
Her body was meant to be handed over on Thursday alongside the bodies of her two children, who the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed they received.
The body of journalist and peace activist Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted, was also returned.
Ariel Bibas, five, taken from Nir-Oz. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Kfir Bibas taken from Nir-Oz. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
The Bibas family has become a powerful symbol of the 251 Israelis kidnapped on 7 October 2023 – not least because Kfir was the youngest taken.
The children’s father, Yarden Bibas, was released on 1 February as part of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
Since the start of the war in October 2023, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
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Hostage’s body not returned as remains ‘mixed’ in rubble, Hamas says – with Netanyahu warning group ‘will pay’
Hamas says the remains of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas appear to have been mixed with other human remains in what it claims was an “Israeli airstrike”.
Israel said the body handed over by Hamas was not Shiri’s, saying it had instead received the remains of an “anonymous body without identification”.
Israel claimed today forensic evidence showed Shiri and her two children were murdered in captivity by Hamas. Sky News has asked the IDF to provide evidence for their claims, but they have refused to comment further.
The Palestinian group claims Shiri and her children were all killed in Israeli airstrikes near the start of the war.
Ms Bibas was kidnapped with her sons – four-year-old Ariel, and nine-month-old Kfir – from the Niz Or kibbutz during the Palestinian militant group’s incursion into Israel in October 2023.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it received the bodies of Ariel and Kfir on Thursday.
However, it said the body that Hamas had claimed was their mother was not her and the group had therefore violated the ceasefire agreement.
“During the identification process, it was found that the additional body received was not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other abductee. It is an anonymous body without identification,” it said in a statement.
“This is a very serious violation by the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is required by the agreement to return four dead abductees. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all of our abductees.”
Hamas said there was the “possibility of an error or overlap in the bodies” due to Israeli bombing. Hamas has said they were all killed in Israeli airstrikes near the start of the war. The group has never provided evidence to back this up. Israel says the Bibas family were murdered by Hamas in captivity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said Israel would make Hamas pay for failing to release Shiri’s body, calling it a “cruel and malicious violation”.
“We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages – both living and dead – and ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement,” he said in a video statement.
Shiri Bibas with her son Kfir.
Pic: PA
The body of journalist and peace activist Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted, was also handed over on Thursday.
Hamas handed over the remains as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement which was reached with Israel last month.
The bodies were transferred in four black coffins in a carefully orchestrated public display as a crowd of Palestinians and dozens of armed Hamas militants watched.
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Hamas hands over bodies of Israeli hostages
Israelis lined the road in the rain near the Gaza border to pay their respects as the convoy carrying the coffins drove by.
In Tel Aviv, people gathered, some weeping, in a public square opposite Israel’s defence headquarters that has come to be known as Hostages Square.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to eliminate Hamas and said the four coffins meant “more than ever” that Israel had to ensure there was no repeat of the 7 October attack.
Mr Netanyahu said: “Our loved ones’ blood is shouting at us from the soil and is obliging us to settle the score with the despicable murderers, and we will.”
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Oded Lifshitz, 84, taken from Nir-Oz. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
The coffins were displayed on a stage by Hamas. Pic: Reuters
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said: “Agony. Pain. There are no words. Our hearts – the hearts of an entire nation – lie in tatters.”
United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, called the parading of the four bodies “cruel” and “inhumane” in a statement on Thursday.
He said: “Under international law, any handover of the remains of deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families.”
The Bibas family has become a powerful symbol of the 251 Israelis kidnapped on 7 October – not least because Kfir was the youngest taken.
The children’s father, Yarden Bibas, was released on 1 February as part of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
Sombre moment for Israelis – as Hamas uses opportunity for propaganda
The return of the bodies of four Israeli hostages is a “sombre moment” for everybody in Israel and Jews across the world, our international correspondent Diana Magnay says.
She says the two young boys, Ariel and Kfir, “really became a symbol of the tremendous suffering 7 October caused”.
“Now, to have them returned back in this way is tragic.”
Referring to the scenes of coffins being transferred to the Red Cross, Magnay says Hamas has chosen to use this “as a propaganda opportunity”.
“They have missiles on the stage where the four coffins were, saying they were killed by US bombs,” she explains.
She says Hamas’s main message is “this was caused by you, you should take responsibility for it”.
She adds that 7 October was caused by Hamas, and has brought “untold suffering to both Israel and Palestinians”.
Meanwhile, six living hostages, the final due to be freed under the first phase of the Gaza truce deal, will be released on Saturday, according to Hamas.
Israelis who survived being held prisoner in Gaza have been released in small groups since the first six-week phase began last month.
The deal has provided a vital pause in the fighting that’s devastated Gaza and left tens of thousands dead.
At least 1,200 people were killed in the attack that started the war.
Since then, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
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