Jan26,2020: Hopes faded Sunday of finding more survivors from a powerful earthquake in eastern Turkey as more bodies were pulled from the rubble and the death toll climbed to 35.
Nearly 4,000 rescue workers combed through debris in freezing temperatures, helped by mechanical diggers, in vain hopes of finding anyone alive in the city of Elazig.
Three bodies were found in the city centre, 38 hours after the 6.8-magnitude quake struck Friday evening, bringing the death toll to 35 in Elazig province and nearby Malatya, Vice President Fuat Oktay said.
Rescuers carefully cleared the remains of the collapsed four-storey building where the bodies were found, using buckets to remove broken material as a sniffer dog was brought to the scene.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters that workers were searching for six people still under the rubble of the building.
