Turkey earthquake: Grim detail in video reveals horrifying reality facing nation
The death toll after one of Turkey's worst ever earthquakes now sits at over 28,000, with the country struggling to keep up with the bodies pulled from the rubble.
Horrifying drone footage has revealed the grim reality Turkey is facing six days after one of its worst ever earthquakes.
Mass graves were dug on Saturday as victims of the quake, which is the worst since 1939, were buried. Latest reports say more than 28,000 people have died so far.
The video shows dozens of body bags lined up as workers dug more and more graves to accomodate them. They were then lowered into the graves and filled by an earth-moving tractor.
There were at least 60 body bags lined up, while a significantly higher number of graves had already been filled.
Funeral prayers were held over bodies in Islahiye before survivors laid their loved ones to rest.
Rescuers in Turkey pulled more people from the rubble early on Saturday, five days after Monday's 7.8-magnitude quake, but hopes were fading in Turkey and Syria that many more survivors would be found.
At one building in Kahramanmaras, rescue workers burrowed between concrete slabs to reach a five year-old girl, lifting her on a stretcher, wrapped in foil, and chanting "God is great."
During a visit to Kahramanmaras, U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths told reporters the earthquake was "the worst event in 100 years in this region".
Turkish president under pressure over mounting deaths
The death toll kept growing - exceeding 28,000 across southern Turkey and northwest Syria. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, facing questions over earthquake planning and response time, has said authorities should have reacted faster.
Erdogan met with victims in Diyabakir on Saturday; his wife, Emine Erdogan, embraced some of the survivors.
In Syria, people waiting for news of family members stood solemnly by mounds of crushed concrete and twisted metal.
Aleppo residents watched as an apartment building was demolished and reduced to rubble.
"When the earthquake first happened, we saw the fans moving, we quickly went out and took shelter in the mosque, and now I came and saw the house demolished with all our belongings," resident Amina Khan Tumani said.
Dozens of planeloads of aid have arrived in areas held by the Syrian government since Monday but little has reached the northwest, the worst-affected area.
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