Suleyman Soylu, Turkey’s interior minister, announced on Monday that 48,448 people had died as a result of the devastating earthquakes that struck the country last month, as authorities rushed to build container towns to shelter those who had been rendered homeless for a longer period of time.
At than 54,000 people have died worldwide, including those killed in Syria.
Addressing at a press conference in Malatya, one of the affected areas, Soylu revealed that 6,660 foreigners, predominantly Syrians, had died in Turkey, and that 1,615 victims’ identities were still being sought.
More than 115,000 people in Turkey were hurt by the earthquake and its aftershocks, and millions of people were forced to seek shelter in tent cities or transfer to other towns.
Tayyip Erdogan, the president, has promised to restore homes.
According to Soylu, the administration intends to set up 115,585 containers for as many families at 239 different locations throughout the impacted area. He claimed that as of now, 21,000 containers had been placed up at 23 sites, housing 85,000 people.
He added that firms would receive new temporary workspaces in the following 10 days and that 433,536 tents had been set up since the earthquake in 354 sites.
