The death toll from Monday's quake has now surpassed 24,500 — including 21,043 people who have died in Turkey and a reported 3,553 in Syria. Search operations are still under way and despite hope fading that many more people will be found alive, there have been reports of miraculous rescues, including one boy who was reportedly stretchered out of the rubble in Turkey after 128 hours. Further aftershocks have been felt in the city of Gaziantep, located near the quake's epicenter, while in neighboring Syria, one aid worker says traumatized children still think the ground is shaking Turkey's most devastating earthquake since 1939 has raised big questions about whether such a large-scale tragedy could have been avoided and whether President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government could have done more to save lives. With elections on the horizon, his future is on the line after 20 years in power and his pleas for national unity have gone unheeded. Monday's earthquake required a massive rescue operation spread across 10 of Turkey's 81 provinces. But it took time for the response to build and some villages could not be reached for days. More than 30,000 people from the professional and voluntary sector eventually arrived, along with teams from many other countries. President Erdogan has accepted that search efforts were not as fast as the government wanted, despite Turkey having the "largest search and rescue team in the world right now". Turkish President Erdogan reiterated Saturday that the government would take action against those involved in looting and other crimes in the region hit by this week's devastating earthquake. The issue of security has come into focus after the Austrian army suspended rescue operations there due to what its spokesperson called "an increasingly difficult security situation". It's been reported there have been clashes between unidentified groups and that about 80 Austrian troops in the region have been taking shelter in a base camp with other international organizations, awaiting instructions. "We've declared a state of emergency," Erdogan said during a visit to the disaster zone Saturday, Reuters reported. "It means that, from now on, the people who are involved in looting or kidnapping should know that the state's firm hand is on their backs," he said. Erdogan also said that hundreds of thousands of buildings were uninhabitable across southern Turkey and that authorities would soon start the rebuilding process. Meanwhile, the Turkey-Armenia border has been opened for aid convoy. A border crossing between Armenia and Turkey opened for the first time in 35 years Saturday to allow aid through after Monday's earthquake, according to Turkish state media. Serdar Kilic, Turkey's special envoy for dialogue with Armenia, said on Twitter that five trucks with aid including medicine, food and water arrived in Turkey from the Alican border crossing this morning. State news agency Anadolu said this was the first time it had opened since 1988. — BBC
