The death toll in Turkey from last month’s devastating earthquakes has risen to 50,096, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said on Monday.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck near the Turkish city of Gaziantep — home to around 2 million people and on the border with Syria — as people were sleeping on Feb. 6 was followed by dozens of aftershocks, including a magnitude 7.5 temblor that jolted the region in the middle of search and rescue efforts the same day.
The death toll has been increasing since Feb. 6 as new bodies are discovered during the removal of the rubble of flattened buildings.
Many claim that the Turkish government is undercounting the number of earthquake victims to mask the true scale of the disaster as it is under fire for failing to prepare the country for earthquakes and other disasters as well as responding poorly to the disaster.
According to AFAD, the number of the injured stands at 107,204.
Meanwhile, the number of people who were killed in last week’s flash floods in the country’s earthquake region rose to 19 on Monday with the discovery of two more bodies.
Sixteen other people died in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, while three were killed in Adıyaman.
Hundreds of thousands of Turkish earthquake survivors have been moved into tents and container homes across the disaster region, which covers 11 provinces.
Torrential rains hit the region last Tuesday, causing yet another wave of shock and fear among earthquake survivors.