THE death toll from a catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria climbed above 40,000 today, with hopes fading of finding survivors.

Officials and medics said 38,044 people had died in Turkey and 3,688 in Syria from the February 6 tremor, bringing the confirmed total to 41,732.

Turkish rescuers yesterday pulled a 17-year-old girl and a woman in her 20s from the rubble, nearly 11 full days after the 7.8-magnitude jolt struck.

But Turkey has suspended rescue operations in some regions, and the government in war-torn Syria has done the same in areas under its control.

The Turkish toll makes it the country’s deadliest natural disaster in its post-Ottoman history. – AFP, February 17, 2023.