Death toll tops 8,000 from earthquakes in Türkiye, Syria

The death toll from Monday's devastating earthquake in Türkiye and Syria has risen to 8,364, according to data released by authorities and rescuers.

The latest death toll from the massive earthquakes in Türkiye stood at 5,894 with 34,810 injuries, the country's Anadolu agency reported on Wednesday, citing Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay as saying.

In Syria, at least 1,250 were killed and 2,050 injured, said the Syrian Health Ministry. Media reports also cited rescue workers as saying that at least 1,220 were killed and over 2,600 injured in the rebel-held region in Syria.

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Türkiye's southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT), followed by a magnitude 6.4 quake a few minutes later in the country's southern province of Gaziantep and a magnitude 7.6 earthquake at 1:24 p.m. local time (1024 GMT) in the Kahramanmaras Province.

An 82-member Chinese rescue team arrived at Adana Airport in Türkiye at 4:30 am local time (0130 GMT) on Wednesday after flying over 8,000 km on a chartered Air China plane.