Governments and international organisations are stepping up financial support for Turkey and Syria as the death toll from this week’s earthquake surpassed 22,000 people, with millions expected to be displaced by one of the region’s worst natural disasters.
Rescuers on Friday continued the huge effort to dig people from the rubble across southern Turkey and northern Syria, with the odds of survival for those pinned under buildings in freezing temperatures diminishing daily. As the immense scale of the catastrophe came into clearer view, the international community has also begun to funnel more financial resources into the stricken region.
The World Bank is committing $780mn to help Turkey rebuild its infrastructure and preparing a further $1bn in support. The US has said it would provide $85mn to fund humanitarian efforts, while the EU, UK, China and Australia are among those to say they would contribute millions of dollars in funding.