Death toll in Turkey and Syria earthquake surpasses 25,000

The combined death toll from the earthquake in Southern Turkey and Northern Syria has surpassed 25,000 and hope is fading of finding many more survivors, despite cases of miraculous rescues.

German rescue workers and the Austrian army paused their search operations yesterday, citing clashes between unnamed groups.

Austria's Ministry of Defence later stated that the Turkish army had stepped in to offer its protection, allowing the rescue operations to continue.

There have also been reports of looting, and Turkey's president says he would use emergency powers to punish anyone breaking the law.

There were reports early yesterday that clashes between unidentified groups in the Hatay province have left dozens of personnel from the Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit seeking shelter in a base camp with other international organisations.

This assessment was echoed by the German branch of the search and rescue group ISAR, which, along with Germany's Federal Agency for Technical Relief (TSW), also suspended operations.

[Source: BBC News]