Online Desk: Twenty one Bangladeshi have been evacuated from the earthquake-ravaged areas of Turkey to its capital Ankara, confirmed the foreign ministry spokesperson Seheli Sabrin on Thursday at the weekly media briefing. She said 21 have been evacuated to Ankara from the affected areas at the initiative of the Bangladesh embassy in Turkey. Of them, two have been undergoing treatment in the hospital adding the country presently accommodates 5,000 to 7,000 Bangladeshis. Chargé d’affaires in Bangladesh embassy in Ankara, Md Rafiqul Islam told no casualties of Bangladeshi from the huge quake have been reported yet.

AFP reports:  Freezing temperatures deepened the misery Thursday for survivors of a massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria that killed more than 17,000 people, as rescuers raced to save countless people still trapped under rubble. The death toll from Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake is expected to rise sharply as rescue efforts pass the 72-hour mark that disaster experts consider the most likely period to save lives.