215,000 people may still be under the rubble: Expert

215,000 people may still be under the rubble: Expert
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There may be 215,000 victims still trapped under the rubble in the earthquake zone and the real fatality figure will emerge after the ninth day, geophysics engineer Ercan has said.

A Turkish geophysics engineer said on Thursday that the number of people still trapped under the rubble after the 6 February earthquake may be around 215,000.

Prof. Ovgun Ahmet Ercan said:

"We are now on the 9th of February, the fourth day of the earthquake. Officials say that 14,351 have been reported dead so far, 60 thousand injured, and 7 thousand out of the 4 million buildings [in Turkey] have been destroyed. The number of people inside those 7 thousand buildings is 224 thousand. When we consider the 9 thousand people who have been saved, the remaining 215 thousand may possibly be under the rubble."

He added:

"The real figure of fatalities will likely emerge when operations to remove the rubble start after the 9th day."