Three Brits missing in Turkey after devastating earthquake kills 5,000
Three Brits are missing after an earthquake struck south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border.
President Erdoğan has declared 10 provinces in the country as disaster zones after as the death toll has risen to 3,549 people.
In neighbouring Syria, more than 1,600 were killed, but the numbers on both sides of the borders are expected to grow.
Making a statement in the Commons, James Cleverly confirmed three people are currently unaccounted for.
The foreign secretary said the government is supporting at least 35 Brits ‘directly affected’ by the catastrophe.
But he stressed that the likelihood of large-scale British casualties remains ‘low’.
Turkey has requested international assistance ‘on a scale matching the enormity of the situation that they are facing’, Mr Cleverly said while updating MPs on the UK response to the disasters in the two countries.
‘Across the region inhabited by more than 12 million people, 6,000 buildings have collapsed. Electricity and gas infrastructure has been severely damaged,’ he said.
‘Many of the 3.5 million Syrian refugees hosted by Turkey reside in the affected provinces.
‘Turkey’s outstanding disaster relief response capability has been severely tested by the sheer scale of this catastrophe.
‘The Turkish government has declared a state of emergency and they are requesting international assistance on a scale that matches the enormity of the situation that they are facing.
‘Turkey will lead the disaster relief response in the areas of Syria where it has the presence.’
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