Thousands flee from earthquake-hit areas in Turkey, airlines offer free tickets

Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines in Turkey on Sunday announced free tickets for all those from affected areas to Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya and other safer locations.

All college and University hostels and some hotels in tourist resorts are being taken to house affected people. Thousands of people from Gaziantep, Hatai, Nurdagi and Marash have left the affected area.

Thousands assembled at the Gaziantep airport to leave for safer destinations.

Rescue operations entered the seventh day on Sunday as rescuers scoured debris to look for survivors after a massive earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, killing more than 28,000 people in one of the region’s worst disasters for a century.

The death toll continues to rise amid widespread devastation and cold as hunger and despair gripped hundreds of thousands of people left homeless by the tremors. Several people trapped under the rubble were rescued on Saturday night.

The body of an Indian national was recovered from under the debris of a hotel in Malatya on Saturday. The Indian Embassy in Turkey informed that the body of an Indian national, identified as Vijay Kumar, was found days after several earthquakes rocked Turkey.

Vijay Kumar, who hailed from Kotdwar area of Pauri Garhwal District of Uttarakhand, worked in a Bengaluru company. He was on a business trip when earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria earlier this week.

EARTHQUAKES IN TURKEY, SYRIA
Huge earthquakes struck Turkey, leaving over 28,000 people dead and several thousand injured or displaced.

The first quake, near Gaziantep close to the Syrian border, measured 7.8 in magnitude. The second occurred nine hours later, and measured 7.6 on the Richter scale.

The earthquakes have wreaked devastation in Turkey and Syria, with search and rescue operations continuing unabated since tragedy struck the two nations.