After visiting the areas destroyed by the earthquake in the city, the delegation went to Türkoğlu district where the quake caused monumental damage and hundreds of deaths.

 “I once again express my condolences to the families of the victims who lost their lives in the earthquake. As you know, we have been on the field with all our units since the first hours of the earthquake. We are with our people; we listen to their problems and troubles. We are trying to find solutions to problems. In this context, our headquarters established a Disaster Coordination Center from the very first moment of the earthquake. In this center, teams consisting of 12 groups from our vice presidents and the members of the general executive board were established. These teams were assigned to 10 provinces hit by the earthquake,” Emiroğlu said.

“Search and rescue efforts are still ongoing. Search and rescue efforts have been completed in some provinces. But it still continues in Kahramanmaraş,” Emiroğlu noted.

Yapıcıoğlu emphasized that with temperatures dropping to minus degrees at night, shelter and heating have become a grave matter of concern for earthquake victims.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria in the early hours of the morning on February 6.

There were at least 31,643 deaths and 80,278 injured across the ten most affected provinces in Turkey, including some casualties also in adjacent Elazığ and Batman provinces.

At least 13.5 million people and 4 million buildings have been affected. Thousands were trapped under rubble when buildings collapsed.

The earthquake-affected people urgently need tents, containers, mobile toilets and bathrooms, mobile kitchens, electric heaters, large and small tubes, stoves, and pocket heaters, according to local sources. (ILKHA)