MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Russian rescuers who have been helping Syria deal with the aftermath of the February 6 devastating earthquake, have saved 47 people, Oleg Yegorov, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria (a division of the Russian defense ministry), said on Friday.
"Russian servicemen continue to take part in cleanup operations in the Latakia, Aleppo and Hama governorates," he said, adding that since February 6, they have saved 47 people from under the rubble, rendered medical assistance to 240 Syrians and have distributed 44.5 tons of relief aid among those who need it.
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province, located in the country’s southeast, on February 6. The tremors, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, were felt in ten provinces as well as in neighboring countries, including Syria. The latest reports say that over 20,000 people have lost their lives in Turkey and more than 80,000 have been injured. According to the Syrian Health Ministry, the devastating quake has left 1,387 people dead in the already war-ravaged Middle Eastern country, with the number of those injured exceeding 2,300.