Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave an update on the casualty figures during a visit to Kahramanmaras, a southern Turkish city at the epicenter of the initial quake, saying the death toll from a massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria rose above 11,200.
Officials and medics said 8,574 people had died in Turkey and 2,662 in Syria from Monday's 7.8-magnitude tremor, bringing the total to 11,236.
Television images showed him hugging a weeping, elderly woman and walking through a large crowd towards a Red Crescent humanitarian relief tent.
Facing a tough May 14 re-election, Erdogan pledged to rebuild the damaged regions within a year.
He also appeared to push back against criticism that the government's response to Turkey's worst disaster in decades has been slow.
“Initially there were issues at airports and on the roads, but today things are getting easier and tomorrow it will be easier still,” he said in televised remarks.
“We have mobilised all our resources,” he added. “The state is doing its job.”
Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night in Turkey and Syria, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 9,500, making the quake the deadliest in more than a decade.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
As the scale of the disaster became ever more apparent, the death toll looked likely to rise considerably. One UN official said thousands of children may have died.
Erdogan on Tuesday declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 southeastern provinces hit by a major earthquake that has claimed thousands of lives.
Rescue and recovery work in the isolated region near Syria has been hamstrung by a fierce winter storm that has made some roads impassable and slowed the delivery of food and aid.
Erdogan said a series of emergency measures would be taken to flood the affected areas with humanitarian relief workers and financial aid.
Read more:
Turkey, Syria earthquake death toll nears 10,000 as rescuers look for survivors
Syria earthquake: Newborn found under rubble with umbilical cord attached to dead mom
Saudi King, Crown Prince order air bridge to deliver aid to Syria, Turkey
Also Read
-
Pope Francis calls for support for Syria-Turkey quake victims
Pope Francis offered his prayers for the thousands of victims of the earthquake in Syria and Turkey on Wednesday and called on the international ... World News -
Turkish stocks enter bear market in aftermath of deadly quake
Turkish stocks slumped, closing in a bear market, as the country struggles with the aftermath of two devastating earthquakes, with a three-month state ... Financial Markets -
Syria earthquake: Newborn found under rubble with umbilical cord attached to dead mom
A newborn baby was rescued from underneath the rubble of a destroyed home with her umbilical cord still attached to her dead mother, hours after a ... Middle East
