China will give a first tranche of 40 million yuan ($5.9 million) in emergency aid to help Turkey's relief efforts after this week's major earthquake, state broadcaster CCTV said on Tuesday.China's Red Cross will give emergency aid of $200,000 each to Turkey and Syria, it added.China expressed condolences and concern for the loss of life and property, and is in communications with both Turkey and Syria, a spokesperson from China International Development Cooperation Agency said.
On behalf of the Chinese government and the Chinese people, Xi expressed deep condolences to the victims and sincere sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured. It is believed that under the leadership of the Turkish and Syrian presidents, the governments and peoples will overcome the impact of the disaster and rebuild their homeland at an early date, Xi said.The death toll in Turkey and in neighbouring northwest Syria following a major earthquake rose to more than 4,000, Associated Press reported. The magnitude 7.8 quake rippled through both countries early on Monday, toppling entire apartment blocks, wrecking hospitals, and leaving thousands more people injured or homeless.As rescue operations continued, freezing winter weather hampered search efforts for survivors through the night. Temperatures fell close to freezing overnight, worsening conditions for people trapped under rubble or left homeless, news agency Reuters reported. The earthquake, which was followed by a series of aftershocks, was the biggest recorded worldwide by the US Geological Survey since a tremor in the remote South Atlantic in August 2021.