Earthquake Dead Victims Close To 50 Thousand Souls, The Turkish Government Expanses The Investigation Of Building Contractors

Workers are cleaning up the rubble of buildings caused by an earthquake in Turkey. (Wikimedia Commons/European Commission/Barbaros Kayan)

JAKARTA - Turkey has stepped up plans to build houses for the victims of the devastating earthquake that hit its border with Syria, Home Minister Suleyman Soylu said, while the death toll in the two countries approached 50,000.

He explained that about 313,000 tents had been set up, with 100,000 container houses to be installed in the disaster zone, extending hundreds of kilometers to the interior from the Mediterranean coasts of Turkey and Syria.

Turkey's death toll has risen to 43,556, Soylu said, while in Syria the death toll has reached nearly 6,000. The United Nations (UN) said more than 4,500 people died in the rebel-controlled northwestern region of Syria. Meanwhile, the Syrian government said 1,414 people died in areas under its control.

Soylu explained, more than 600,000 apartments and 150,000 commercial buildings have suffered at least moderate damage.

"Our cities will be built in the right place, our children will live in stronger cities. We know what kind of tests we are facing, and we will get out of this stronger," he told state broadcaster TRT Haber.

Soylu further said authorities were expanding investigations into Turkish building contractors suspected of violating safety standards and magnifying the scale of the damage.

He said 564 suspects had been identified, with 160 people having been officially arrested and many others still under investigation.

It is known, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, followed by an earthquake that was not much different in strength a few hours later, rocked Turkey on February 6, with its impact felt until Syria.

About 865,000 people live in tents and 23,500 people live in container houses, while 376,000 people live in student dormitories and public homes outside the earthquake zone, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.