Rescuers in Turkey pulled a handful of people alive from collapsed buildings on Monday and were digging to reach a grandmother, mother and daughter from a single family, a week after the country’s worst earthquake in modern history. Hopes of finding many more survivors were fading as the combined death toll in Turkey and neighbouring Syria from the 7.8 magnitude quake on Feb. 6 and a massive tremor just hours later climbed above 37,000. In the shattered Syrian city of Aleppo, U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said the rescue phase was “coming to a close”, with the focus switching to shelter, food and schooling.
Turkish officials Sunday detained or issued arrest warrants for some 131 people allegedly involved in shoddy and illegal construction methods of collapsed buildings, news agency AP reported. Turkey’s justice minister has vowed to punish anyone responsible, and prosecutors have begun gathering samples of buildings for evidence on materials used in constructions.
