KAHRAMANMARASH (Turkey), Feb 7 The first group of Russian rescuers went to inspect the rubble in Turkish Kahramanmarash, Igor Akmayev, deputy head of the search and rescue service of the Centrospas detachment, told reporters on Tuesday.
«The main reconnaissance group has already gone to the site to carry out reconnaissance and inspect the rubble,» Akmayev said.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, the work of rescuers «is complicated by a large number of blockages, destroyed buildings, unstable structures and ongoing aftershocks.»
«Russian rescuers are working with maximum efficiency, because in the conditions of such catastrophic destruction every minute is precious to save the lives of the victims,» the representative of the department emphasized.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.7 hit southeast Turkey the previous morning — according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it was the strongest since 1939. In the afternoon of the same day there was another earthquake of magnitude 7.6.
The number of people killed in the earthquake, according to the latest data, exceeds 3.5 thousand in the country, more than 20 thousand injured. Turkey has declared seven days of national mourning for the victims of the disaster, and a three-month state of emergency has been declared in 10 affected provinces.