AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani offered sympathies to the people affected by major earthquakes that have hit Turkey and Syria.
In a statement released in the holy city of Najaf on Wednesday, the office of the senior cleric called for expediting efforts to help those in the quake-hit areas.
It also said that Ayatollah Sistani offers condolences to those who have lost love ones in the tragic disaster and prays for patience and calm for them and recovery for those injured.
Devastating earthquakes, including a 7.8 magnitude one, struck southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria early Monday, killing and injuring thousands of people and reducing many buildings to rubble.
Rescue workers are still working in freezing temperatures to find those still trapped under debris with the latest death toll nearing 8,400.
The huge earthquake brought down whole apartment blocks in Turkish cities and piled more devastation on millions of Syrians displaced by years of war.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces and said that 13 million of the country’s 85 million people were affected by the quake. Over 8,000 people have been pulled from the debris in Turkey and around 380,000 have taken refuge in government shelters or hotels.
In Syria, the death toll in government-held areas has climbed to 812, with 1,400 injured. In the rebel-held northwest, at least 1,020 people have died, according to volunteer first responders, with over 2,300 injured.
........................
End/ 257