Turkey-Syria earthquake death toll hits 12,000

The earthquake that shook Turkey and Syria has claimed 12,000 lives as of Wednesday as search and rescue continue.

A series of massive 7.8 and 7.5-magnitude quakes on February 7 struck southeastern Turkey near the border with Syria.

Disaster management agency, AFAD said corpses that cannot be identified would be buried within five days even if they remained unnamed.

The agency disclosed such victims would be interred after DNA tests, fingerprinting and being photographed for future identification.

During his visit to “tent city” in Kahramanmaras, Turkish President Recep Erdogan admitted there were shortfalls in initial response to the disaster.

The President vowed that no one would “be left in the streets”, assuring the problems encountered were now “under control”.

“If there is one person responsible for this, it is Erdogan,” said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of Turkey’s main opposition party.

Aid workers from more than twenty countries have joined the tens of thousands of personnel in the quake zone.

In northern Syria, a newborn baby, the sole survivor from her family, was found under rubble while still attached to her mother who died after birth