In a single city in south-east Turkey, more than 5,000 victims of the devastating earthquake were buried at a mass cemetery on Sunday.
A senior official said that the Kahramanmaras’ mass burial ground will eventually become the resting place of the city’s 10,000 residents who died in the natural disaster.
A policeman, who lead the burial operation, said that there has been a continuous increase in the number of dead bodies arriving “every day”.
The streets of Kahramanmaras, where once 500,000 people stayed in their homes, have been completely levelled as rescuers continue to pull bodies from the debris of the collapsed buildings after multiple earthquakes rocked the city on Monday.
The authorities have erected white makeshift tents on the edge of the cemetery where the bodies are being cleaned before they are buried in freshly-dug graves.
The mourners were seen crying and screaming cars and vans filled with bodies continued to come to the burial ground.
Death toll tops 34,000, as legal action against builders starts
The survivors as well as dead bodies continued to be pulled out of the rubble on Sunday, as authorities in Turkey tried to maintain order across the disaster zone and started legal action against builders over building collapses.
Meanwhile, the total death toll rose above 34,000 and chances of finding more survivors faded. In southern Turkey’s Antakya, shops were emptied by business owners who feared that looters will steal their merchandise.
Aid workers and residents said that the security conditions in cities have worsened as collapsed homes and businesses are being robbed.
UN admits failure in providing aid to Syria
On Sunday, the United Nations decried the failure to provide desperately required aid to Syria’s war-torn regions, while also warning that the death toll of the earthquake to rise far higher.
WATCH | Turkey-Syria Earthquake | UN: Earthquake a double crisis for Syria
A UN convoy filled with supplies was sent to northwest Syria through Turkey, however, the agency’s relief chief Martin Griffiths said that a lot more aid was needed for millions who had lost their homes in the disaster.
“We have so far failed the people in northwest Syria. They rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that hasn’t arrived,” said Griffiths on Twitter.
Assessing the damage suffered by southern Turkey on Saturday, Griffiths said that the figure is likely to “double or more” in the coming days.
(With inputs from agencies)
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