Quake survivors face cold, hunger as rescue work goes on

Turkey Families in southern Turkey and Syria spent a second night in the freezing cold on Wednesday as overwhelmed rescuers raced to pull people from the rubble two days after a massive earthquake that killed more than 11,000 people.

KAHRAMANMARAS/ANTARYA, In Turkey, dozens of bodies, some covered in blankets and sheets and others in body bags, were lined up on the ground outside a hospital in Hatay province.

Many in the disaster zone had slept in their cars or in the streets under blankets, fearful of going back into buildings shaken by the magnitude-7.8 tremor already Turkey’s deadliest since 1999 that hit in the early hours of Monday.

Rescuers there and in neighbouring Syria warned that the death toll would keep rising as some survivors said help had yet to arrive.

“Where are the tents, where are food trucks?“ said Ms Melek, 64, in the southern Turkish city of Antakya, adding that she had not seen any rescue teams.

“We haven’t seen any food distribution here, unlike previous disasters in our country. We survived the earthquake, but we will die here due to hunger or cold.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a state of emergency in10 provinces. But residents in several damaged Turkish cities have voiced anger and despair at what they said was a slow and inadequate response by the authorities. Mr Erdogan, facing a close-fought election in May, is expected to visit some of the affected areas on Wednesday.