Seven bodies of earthquake victims arrived in Kobani
KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – On Tuesday, the bodies of seven earthquake victims in Turkey arrived in their hometown of Kobani, northern Syria.
On Monday at 4:17 am, Syria and Turkey were rocked by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake whose epicenter was located near Gaziantep, southern Turkey, and killed thousands of people in the both countries.
Hundreds are believed to still be trapped under the rubble of the collapsed buildings in both countries.
Muhammad Hami, a relative of one of the victims, told North Press that seven people, six of them from the same family, arrived in the village of Khazina, south of Kobani, on Tuesday evening.
They had received the bodies from the Awn al-Dadat crossing in the city of Manbij, connecting the areas held by the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition and the areas of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), he said.
Residents of Kobani and activists on social media circulated news of many deaths from the city in the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey.
In Turkey, the deaths have mounted to 5.894 and injuries to 34.810 according the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).
The death toll is expected to rise as rescue operations continue in search for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings.
There are nearly three million Syrian refugees in Turkey since the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011.