Hunt goes on as Turkey quake toll hits 582

Turkish rescue teams were continuing to look for survivors today as the death toll from a powerful earthquake six days ago reached 582.

Authorities said 455 of those were killed in the eastern city of Ercis, which was hardest hit by the 7.2-magnitude quake.

Today, searchers pulled the body of a 27-year-old teacher from a crumbled building and continued drilling through the wreckage in search of two other missing people.

A woman was waiting outside wailing for her son, another teacher, believed to be trapped inside, as hopes of finding more survivors were fading.

``We want to keep our hopes up, but I don't know,'' rescuer Yilmaz Ersoy told the media.

Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said rescue work was under way at four sites in Ercis but he expected it to end later in the day.

Some survivors, meanwhile, expressed frustration over an uneven relief response, even after foreign assistance began pouring in and the government said an initial shortage of tents had now largely been overcome.

Ishak Kartal, 73, travelled to Ercis with a young relative in search of tents to take back to his village of Ulupamir, which has a population of 7,000.

“We have four dead people. Not enough help has arrived,” he said. “We came to find some tents.”

Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said the government was making plans to house the homeless in temporary, prefabricated homes or container-style housing units within two months.

Turkey cancelled parades and other ceremonies marking the 88th anniversary of the founding of the republic in respect of the dead while survivors said they did not even realise it was a holiday.

“It doesn’t feel like a holiday to us,” said Bayram Ala. “We’re in an earthquake zone. There are aftershocks every night.”