Desperate hunt for survivors after Turkey quake carnage

ERCIS: Rescuers scrambled through the rubble on Monday in a desperate search for survivors of an earthquake that killed at least 272 people in Turkey as residents fled the scenes of devastation.

People living in eastern Van province issued cries for help on Twitter, giving out the addresses of collapsed buildings and the number of people trapped under the debris.

Hundreds of rescuers worked around the clock in the town of Ercis, which bore the brunt of the quake and the surrounding villages, as scores of ambulances and medical supplies were rushed to the area.

Some 272 people were confirmed killed by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake which struck around lunchtime on Sunday in the Van province, according to Interior Minister Idris Naim Sener. An earlier estimate put the toll at 264.

"We couldn't understand what was going on -- all of a sudden there was dust everywhere, our eyes were full of dust, and we were thrown against the walls and furniture. It lasted 20 seconds," Ercis resident Yunus Ozmen said.

"We spent the night outside in the street and made a fire to keep warm," said the 23-year-old as he recounted the moment when disaster struck, forcing many out of doors to spend the night in freezing temperatures.

His neighbour Abdul Hadi Isik said that his aunt and her children were buried under the rubble.

"There is no hope left," he added.

A 16-year-old girl Hilal was pulled smiling from the wreckage of her house and two children were plucked alive from a collapsed building in Ercis, but it was an otherwise grim day for rescuers combing through the rubble.

Some 169 people were killed in Ercis, while 95 died in Van city centre, the Anatolia news agency quoted Sener as saying. A total of 970 buildings had collapsed as a result of the quake and aftershocks, including a dormitory in Ercis under which many students were believed to be buried.

Around 1,200 rescue officials were working in the town of Ercis, according to the local crisis center.

Some 2,400 search and rescue teams from 45 cities and more than 200 ambulances have been rushed to the region, according to the government.

The military said six battalions were also involved in search and rescue efforts.

Six helicopters, including four helicopter ambulances, as well as C-130 military cargo planes were dispatched to the area carrying tents, food and medicine.

By mid-day Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said that rescuers had managed to get access to all the quake-hit zones in Van province, including remote villages.

"There is a decrease in number of injured people who are being brought to here," said Doctor Niyazi Celik, the head of the field hospital in Ercis.

"We can expect the death toll to increase but it would not exceed a few dozen more," Celik said.

Atalay said 29 villages and 40 percent of Ercis town were without power.

Many of Ercis's residents fled the town while police and soldiers kept watch around crumbled buildings to prevent looting.

While scores of multi-storey buildings had collapsed, most single-storey houses remained intact.

Only nine percent of buildings in Van province had compulsory earthquake insurance, according to Selamet Yazici, the general manager of the natural disaster insurance institution.

The Turkish Red Crescent sent some 7,500 tents, more than 22,000 blankets, almost 4,000 heaters and 1,000 body bags to the region. A mobile bakery and 21 mobile kitchens were also sent to Van.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011