President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has extended Ghana’s heartfelt condolences to the governments and peoples of Turkey and Syria, on the devastation and the tragic loss of lives occasioned by Monday’s earthquake.
In a tweet yesterday, the President said “May their souls rest in perfect peace.”
President Akufo-Addo said the nation prays for the survivors of the tragic incident.
“We pray that our fellow Ghanaian, Christian Atsu, is found safe and sound”, the tweet said.
The BBC yesterday reported that a rescue operation was under way across much of southern Turkey and northern Syria, following a huge earthquake that has killed more than 2,300 people.
The 7.8 magnitude quake struck near Gaziantep in the early hours of Monday while people were asleep.
A new 7.5-magnitude tremor hit at around 13:30 local time (10:30 GMT), which officials said was “not an aftershock”.
The country’s disaster agency says some 1,500 people were killed in Turkey alone after the first quake, and more than 5,300 were wounded.
Syrian authorities are reporting 810 dead and more than 2,000 injured, according to the AFP news agency.
Rescuers are racing to save people trapped beneath the rubble after hundreds of buildings collapsed in both countries.
World leaders have pledged to send aid after Turkey issued an international appeal for help
Millions of people across Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus and Israel felt the earthquake.
BY TIMES REPORTER WITH ADDITIONAL FILES FROM BBC
