African Leaders Express Condolences in the Turkish-Syrian earthquake

By Talk Africa Correspondent

Nairobi, Kenya: African leaders are expressing condolences and solidarity with Türkiye and Syria after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit parts of the two countries on Monday. They included the presidents of Ethiopia, South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Burundi,Kenya and Gambia.

Also the African Union (AU) chairperson Moussa Faki-Mahamat in a tweet welcomed the “global outpouring of support and solidarity”.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission H.E @AUC_MoussaFaki expresses his shock and deep condolences on the earthquake that hit Türkiye and Syria : https://t.co/obQMQpq9Io pic.twitter.com/xXD4eFBg8L

— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) February 7, 2023

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during a visit to the worst-hit region after Monday’s massive earthquake that the death toll in his country had surged to 8,574.

Nearly 50,000 people had been injured, Erdoğan said in Kahramanmaraş, one of the nearest cities to the epicentre.

The latest toll of 2,662 dead in Syria means that that Monday’s earthquake has killed over 11,000, in one of the worst natural disasters to ever hit the region.The magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck at 4:17 am (0117 GMT) on Monday. Another powerful quake, only slightly weaker at 7.5, hit around noon the same day.

There have also been hundreds of smaller aftershocks.

Rescuers in both countries have been racing against time to find survivors in freezing temperatures and amid a shortage of heavy equipment to move the rubble of destroyed houses.