Search for children trapped in quake
Dozens of other children have been rescued from the debris of the boys' school. Hundreds of terrified parents waited for news.
"My friends are waiting for help in there. They were calling for help as they were pulling me out," 12-year-old Veysel Dagdelen said after he was pulled out of the debris.
Rescuers also dug through a destroyed apartment block in an effort to get people out. One man carried a dead baby into a hospital.
The quake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, struck at 3.27am and was centred just outside Bingol, 430 miles east of Ankara, the Kandilli seismology centre in Istanbul said.
A bridge and at least 25 buildings collapsed in the centre of Bingol, a city of 250,000 inhabitants. Damage could be seen throughout the city, where the streets were filled with frightened residents.
The earthquake damaged power and telephone lines. More than 100 aftershocks hit the region, and rescue workers were unable to reach many villages.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at least 84 people were killed, while Housing Minister Zeki Ergezen said the death toll could be 150 throughout the region.
Bingol is a largely rural poor area in the predominantly Kurdish southeast that suffered for years from the fierce fighting between the Turkish army and Kurdish rebels seeking autonomy.
Crews were working to rescue more than 100 primary and middle school students buried under the four-storey dormitory. By midday, 72 children were rescued, said rescue worker Muhsin Balgi.
Mr Balgi said children could be heard screaming from the debris.
"We hope another 50 students will be saved," Mr Balgi said, adding that many were feared dead. The headmaster said 198 students ages seven to 16 were sleeping in the dormitory when the quake hit.
Five students and one teacher were found dead, Bingol Mayor Feyzullah Karaaslan said.
Using cranes and jackhammers, soldiers, rescuers and local residents worked their way through the debris desperately trying to save surviving students. Many injured students were being treated on mattresses laid out near the flattened building.
Naim Gencgul, a 15-year-old boy, suffered a broken arm.
"The whole building was on top of me. We all started screaming," he said.
Relatives rushed toward soldiers every time a rescued boy was carried out on a stretcher. Most of the children are sons of poor farmers from nearby villages that do not have schools.
Parents questioned the quality of the school's construction.
"The stable I built did not collapse, but the school did," said Abdullah Gunala, the father of a rescued student.
Visiting the area, Mr Erdogan said proper inspections had not been carried out and that shoddy material had been used to build the school.
"Investigations will be launched and the guilty will be prosecuted," he said.
Doctors at Bingol's state hospital appealed for help to deal with the crisis. The hospital was seriously damaged in the quake and scores of injured were being treated outside.
The European Union's foreign affairs envoy, Javier Solana, yesterday offered EU help and support to Turkey.
Mr Solana, who had a telephone conversation with Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul, expressed his "full solidarity and support", a statement from his office said.
Greece, Turkey's neighbour and historical rival, was one of the first countries to offer emergency aid, pledging €300,000 and offering to send 25 rescue workers specialised in dealing with catastrophes.
A Greek army C-130 will take off with the aid and humanitarian equipment, including tents and blankets as soon as Ankara gives the green light, the foreign ministry said.
Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz offered to send search-and-rescue specialists with special equipment and rescue-trained dogs, during a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, a ministry spokesman said.
Israel sent such teams when huge earthquakes struck northwestern Turkey in August and November 1999.
Germany also promised help as Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer proposed to send a specialised German team of rescuers and dogs to search for victims trapped under the debris.
