The President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon has instructed to send humanitarian aid to the affected areas of Turkiye, an official source within the Emergencies Committee under the Government of Tajikistan told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon.

Besides, Tajikistan is ready to send 50 rescuers to the earthquake-hit regions of Turkiye.  

The humanitarian aid will be send together with the rescue team.   The exact sending date has not been announced.

Meanwhile, rescue teams of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan already flew to Turkiye Tuesday morning.  

Uzbek media reports say Uzbekistan will send 60 rescuers and three special emergency vehicles to Turkiye.  

A meeting with participation of the Emergencies Committee chief Rustam Nazarzoda took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tuesday morning to discuss issues related to sending Tajik rescuers to Turkiye.  

Media reports say Turkiye’s Vice-President, Fuat Oktay, said Tuesday morning that 3,419 people had been killed in the quake, with another 20,534 had been injured.  The number of confirmed deaths on the Syrian side of the border reportedly rose to 1,602, bringing the death toll in both countries to 5,021.

The Guardian reported on Tuesday that Turkiye’s disaster management agency said it had 11,342 reports of collapsed buildings, of which 5,775 had been confirmed.

Dozens of powerful aftershocks reportedly continued to jolt southern Turkiye and northern Syria on Tuesday, a day after an earthquake struck the region killing more than 5,000 people and destroying thousands of buildings, as difficult conditions, freezing temperatures and damaged roads hampered rescue efforts.

As the scale of the devastation from the 7.8 magnitude tremor continued to unfold, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned the number of casualties could exceed 20,000.