Scenes of devastation as Turkey, Syria quake kills thousands

With the death toll climbing after the deadliest earthquake in over a decade brought massive destruction to parts of Turkey and Syria, rescue crews are holding fast to an increasingly slim hope of finding survivors.

This gallery shows the most compelling scenes from a devastating earthquake that hit southeast Turkey and northern Syria on Monday. The confirmed death toll from the magnitude 7.8 quake was approaching 12,000 by Wednesday.

Search teams from around the world are joining tens of thousands of local emergency personnel, but the scale of the destruction has been so immense and spread over such a wide area — including a region isolated by Syria’s ongoing civil war — that many people were still awaiting help.

With unstable piles of metal and concrete, the searches are perilous. Adding to the worries are growing concerns about the amount of time trapped people could survive in the cold.

Stories of rescues, though, have continued to provide hope. A crying newborn still connected by the umbilical cord to her deceased mother was rescued Monday in Syria.

Meanwhile, countless families have already begun burying their loved ones.

The gallery was curated by Dusan Vranic, Deputy News Director for Photography for the Middle East, Afghanistan & Pakistan

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