Turkey-Syria earthquake: More than 20,500 people confirmed dead – as hope fades for more survivors
More than 20,500 people are now confirmed to have died in a devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday.
The total number who are recorded as having been killed is at least 20,511, including 17,134 in Turkey and 3,377 in the neighbouring war-ravaged country.
Both nations were hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that reduced buildings to rubble and separated families.
Turkey-Syria earthquake – latest updates
The crucial 72-hour window – in which people are most likely to be found alive – has now passed, but one rescuer said there is still some hope of finding further survivors.
David O’Neill, from the UK International Search and Rescue Team, told Sky News his teams were still finding people alive among the debris.
“It is surprising, but it is encouraging,” said Mr O’Neill.
“The way these buildings have collapsed they leave many survivable voids within them and given the time that this happened, a lot of people are wrapped up in bedding and such.”
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing growing criticism from families left frustrated by a slow response from rescue teams, as their hope gradually fades with the passing of time.
People at the graves of victims in a cemetery in Kahramanmaras, Turkey
During a visit to Hatay province, where more than 3,300 people have died and entire neighbourhoods have been destroyed, Mr Erdogan said: “It is not possible to be prepared for such a disaster. We will not leave any of our citizens uncared for.”
Similar issues are being reported in neighbouring Syria, with the country’s UN ambassador Bassam Sabbagh conceding the government has a “lack of capabilities and a lack of equipment”.
Despite families feeling frustrated by the slow rescue pace, there are cases where those trapped under the rubble are alive and being saved.
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Children rescued after nearly three days
Rescuers carry an eight-year-old Syrian boy in Hatay, Turkey
Rescuers hold Kerem Agirtas, a 20-day-old survivor, who was pulled from under the rubble in Hatay
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has launched an appeal for funds which has gained the support of celebrities such as Daniel Craig, Sir Michael Palin, and Tamsin Greig – and received the backing of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The money will provide medical treatment for the injured, shelter for those who have lost their homes, as well as blankets, warm clothes and heaters for safe spaces.
They are also ensuring that people have enough food and clean water.
Local volunteers have set up aid centres, distributing food, water, and warm clothes to those affected, and are transporting supplies to villages hit the hardest.
The UK government will match the first £5m of donations from the public.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his “solidarity” with Turkey, having “sent 77 specialist search and rescue teams” to help on the ground.
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Scale of loss ‘hard to comprehend’
The International Search and Rescue (ISAR) volunteers managed to rescue two women, aged 60 and 90, from the rubble, and reunite a mother with her child.
Smaller search teams are struggling to fly in, however.
Martin Phillips, a volunteer part of a Wiltshire-based rescue crew, said: “It is frustrating. It’s nobody’s fault as such – the Turkish authorities wanted medium and heavy teams in first.
“Normally, the light teams get in first and lay the pathway for the bigger teams coming in.”
‘Time is running out’
White Helmets, a Syrian volunteer organisation, said “hundreds of families” remained trapped under the rubble.
The White Helmets are taking part in the rescue effort
They tweeted: “We are at a critical point. Time is running out, hundreds of families are still stuck under the rubble.
“Every second means saving a life.”
Earlier in the week, a miracle baby was born under the rubble and taken to hospital, but her parents were believed to be dead, according to Syrian locals.
A baby born under the rubble in Syria is receiving treatment in hospital
The first higher-magnitude quake hit the Turkish city of Gaziantep early on Monday morning, razing parts of the south of the country and northern Syria as people slept.
Aftershocks followed, decimating more buildings and leaving thousands trapped under those that collapsed.
The DEC said it expects humanitarian needs to grow in the coming days.
There will be a special programme called Disaster Zone: The Turkey-Syria Earthquake on Sky News on Friday at 9.30pm
An audacious Ukrainian drone attack against multiple airbases across Russia is a humiliating security breach for Vladimir Putin that will doubtless trigger a furious response.
Pro-Kremlin bloggers have described the drone assault – which Ukrainian security sources said hit more than 40 Russian warplanes – as “Russia’s Pearl Harbor” in reference to the Japanese attack against the US in 1941 that prompted Washington to enter the Second World War.
Ukraine war latest: Russia accuses Kyiv of ‘terrorist attack’
The Ukrainian operation – which used small drones smuggled into Russia, hidden in mobile sheds and launched off the back of trucks – also demonstrated how technology and imagination have transformed the battlefield, enabling Ukraine to seriously hurt its far more powerful opponent.
Moscow will have to retaliate, with speculation already appearing online about whether President Putin will again threaten the use of nuclear weapons.
“We hope that the response will be the same as the US response to the attack on their Pearl Harbor or even harsher,” military blogger Roman Alekhin wrote on his Telegram channel.
Codenamed ‘Spider’s Web’, the mission on Sunday was the culmination of one and a half years of planning, according to a security source.
In that time, Ukraine’s secret service smuggled first-person view (FPV) drones into Russia, sources with knowledge of the operation said.
Flat-pack, garden-office style sheds were also secretly transported into the country.
The drones were hidden in truck containers. Pic: SBU Security Service
The oblong sheds were then built and drones were hidden inside, before the containers were put on the back of trucks and driven to within range of their respective targets.
At a chosen time, doors on the roofs of the huts were opened remotely and the drones were flown out. Each was armed with a bomb that was flown into the airfields, with videos released by the security service that purportedly showed them blasting into Russian aircraft.
These drones were used to destroy Russian bomber aircraft. Pic: SBU Security Service
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Among the targets were Tu-95 and Tu-22 bomber aircraft that can launch cruise missiles, according to the Ukrainian side. An A-50 airborne early warning aircraft was also allegedly hit. This is a valuable platform that is used to command and control operations.
The use of such simple technology to destroy multi-million-pound aircraft will be watched with concern by governments around the world.
Suddenly, every single military base, airfield and warship will appear that little bit more vulnerable if any truck nearby could be loaded with killer drones.
Read more:
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The most immediate focus, though, will be on how Mr Putin responds.
Previous attacks by Ukraine inside Russia have triggered retaliatory strikes and increasingly threatening rhetoric from the Kremlin.
But this latest operation is one of the biggest and most significant, and comes on the eve of a new round of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv that are meant to take place in Turkey. It is not clear if that will still happen.
US President Donald Trump has been pushing for the two sides to make peace but Russia has only escalated its war.
Ukraine clearly felt it had nothing to lose but to also go on the attack.
Two people are dead and nearly 560 people were arrested after disorder broke out in France following Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the Champions League final, the French interior ministry has said.
The ministry added 192 people were injured and there were 692 fires, including 264 involving vehicles.
A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the city of Dax during a PSG street party after Saturday night’s final in Munich, the national police service said.
The second person killed was a man who was hit by a car while riding a scooter during PSG celebrations, the interior minister’s office said.
Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez has said the man was in his 20s and although the incident is still being investigated, it appears his death was linked to the disorder.
Meanwhile, French authorities have reported that a police officer is in a coma following the clashes.
A burning bike on the Champs Elysees during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
The officer had been hit by a firecracker that emerged from a crowd of supporters in Coutances in the Manche department of northwestern France, according to reports in the country.
Initial investigations reportedly suggest the incident was accidental and the police officer was not deliberately targeted.
The perpetrator has not been identified.
A man walks past teargas during incidents after the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan. Pic: AP
A burning bike on the Champs Elysees during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
The interior ministry earlier said 22 security forces workers were injured during the chaos – including 18 who were injured in Paris, along with seven firefighters.
In a news conference today, Mr Nuñez said only nine of the force’s officers had been injured in the French capital.
He added that fireworks were directed at police and firefighters were attacked while responding to car fires.
There were 559 arrests across the country during the disorder, including 491 in Paris. Of those detained across the country, 320 were taken into police custody – with 254 in the French capital.
Mr Nuñez said although most people wanted to celebrate PSG’s win, some only wanted to get involved in fights with police.
He also said the force is only at “half-time” in its response because the PSG team will be celebrating their Champions League victory on the Champs Élysées later today.
Police in Paris during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
Police in Paris during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
Mr Nuñez said that the police presence and military presence in Paris will be increased on the ground for the parade.
It comes after flares and fireworks were set off in the French capital after PSG beat Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich – the biggest ever victory in a Champions League final.
Around 5,400 police were deployed across Paris after the game, with officers using tear gas and pepper spray on the Champs Élysées.
Pic: AP
Pic: AP
At the top of the Champs Élysées, a water cannon was used to protect the Place de l’Etoile, near the landmark Arc de Triomphe.
Police said a large crowd not watching the match tried to push through a barrier to make contact with officers.
Some 131 arrests were made, including 30 who broke into a shoe shop on the Champs Élysées.
Police have said a total of four shops, including a car dealership and a barbers, were targeted during the disorder in Paris.
Two cars were set alight close to Parc des Princes, police said.
PSG forward Ousmane Dembélé appealed for calm in a post-match interview with Canal+, saying: “Let’s celebrate this but not tear everything up in Paris.”
Pics: AP
After the final played at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, thousands of supporters also tried to rush the field.
Police lined up in front of the PSG end of the stadium at the final whistle, but struggled to contain the fans for several minutes when they came down from the stands following the trophy presentation.
Pics: AP
Désiré Doué, the 19-year-old who scored two goals and assisted one in the final, said after the game: “I don’t have words. But what I can say is, ‘Thank you Paris,’ we did it.”
Despite being a supporter of PSG’s rivals Olympique de Marseille, French President Emmanuel Macron also said on social media: “A glorious day for PSG!
“Bravo, we are all proud. Paris, the capital of Europe this evening.”
Mr Macron’s office said the president would receive the players at the Elysee Palace on Sunday.
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Three patients have been killed and dozens of other people were reportedly injured after a fire at a hospital in Germany.
The blaze broke out in a room in the geriatric ward of the Marienkrankenhaus early on Sunday.
It started on the ground floor and spread to the level above, with smoke affecting much of the four-storey building in the city of Hamburg.
Firefighters were alerted soon after midnight.
They said they found several patients calling for help from windows, and some people were rescued using ladders.
Pic: AP
Pic: Reuters
Three adults died and more than 30 were injured in the fire, the German news agency dpa said.
One of the injured is in a life-threatening condition, while 18 have serious injuries and 15 have minor injuries, the agency added.
Read more from Sky News:
Two dead and hundreds of arrests in France after PSG win
Britain has ‘lost control’ of its borders, says minister
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Part of the building had to be evacuated, though the wounded were mostly treated at the hospital.
Two injured people were taken to other nearby clinics.
The blaze was put out within about 20 minutes. The cause is not yet known.
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