Four South African inmates caught in Turkey quake

Four South African inmates caught in Turkey quake

Four South African prisoners who were inmates at a prison in Turkey that collapsed during Monday's earthquake have been accounted for and are alive.

Children pulled from rubble as Turkey-Syria quake toll tops 9,500
AFP

South Africa's ambassador to the country Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba says they received word on Tuesday from those on the ground in the southern region.


"We have detainees who have been there for quite some time, they are not injured. The prison where they are kept was affected but luckily, they were not injured. So as far as we know, we don't have any fatalities of South Africans that we know for now." 


Letsatsi-Duba says as far as they know, there weren't any other South Africans in the region.


"In the region where this tragedy occured we don't have accept these inmates. We don't have any other South Africans expect the inmates and those if maybe by chance happened that they were in the area, the emergency line there where they can reach us and we will try to intervene as far as we can." 


The quake hit both southern Turkey and northern Syria in the early hours of the morning.


READ: SA responders fly out to quake-hit Turkey, Syria


The death toll now stands at over five thousand. 


But the World Health Organisation is estimating that up to 20 000 people may have died.


A massive rescue effort is under way to find and free survivors from the rubble of buildings that have been flattened, but freezing weather has hampered the searches.


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 southeastern provinces that are affected.


Many countries have pledged support in the form of rescue personnel and other emergency teams, food and other aid.


The Syrian Red Crescent has appealed to Western countries to lift sanctions in Syria and provide relief.

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