Earthquake death toll in Turkey and Syria surpasses 5,000

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Tuesday that the death toll from the earthquakes centred in southeastern Turkey rose to 3,419, bringing the total including those killed in Syria to more than 5,000.

Speaking to reporters, Oktay said severe weather conditions made it difficult to bring aid to the affected regions and conduct rescues. He said only rescue and aid vehicles were being allowed to enter or leave Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Adiyaman, three of the most impacted provinces.

Rescue operations are focusing on those three provinces and Malatya, Oktay added.

(Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun and Nevzat Devranoglu; Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)