Death toll passes 35,000

Good morning MEE readers. 

It’s been a week now since two earthquakes and several aftershocks devastated southeast Turkey and northwest Syria. 

As of this morning, the death toll has risen to above 35,000. At least 31,643 have died in Turkey, while over 3,581 died in Syria. 

Remarkably, there are still people being pulled from the rubble, seven days on.

Sibel Kaya, 40, was rescued from a collapsed building in Turkey’s Gaziantep on Monday after around 170 hours under the rubble, CNN Turk reported. 

Meanwhile in the Kahramanmaras province, rescuers have made contact with three survivors trapped under the rubble, believed to be a grandmother, mother and 30-day-old baby. 

A Turkish military team, miners and Spanish firefighters are digging a tunnel to attempt to reach them. 

The UN aid chief said on Monday that the rescue phase was coming to a close, with urgency now switching to providing shelter, food, schooling and psychological care. 

"What is the most striking here, is even in Aleppo, which has suffered so much these many years, this moment... was about the worst that these people have experienced," Martin Griffiths said during a visit to Aleppo in northern Syria. 

He added that aid would move from government-held parts of Syria to opposition-controlled northwest Syria, after President Bashar al-Assad announced that humanitarian assistance could cross the frontline. 

We have more updates to come throughout the day. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for the latest news.