MUSEVENI | DIPLOMACY | EARTHQUAKE

KAMPALA - President Yoweri Museveni has sent condolences to the people of Turkey and Syria following a devastating earthquake on Monday whose death toll has risen to over 7,000 people.

"I am deeply saddened by the deaths, injuries and loss of property in Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. My thoughts and prayers, and those of all Ugandans, are with the families who have lost their loved ones. May their souls rest in eternal peace," Museveni said.

On Tuesday, international media reported the death toll from the Monday earthquake had surpassed 7,000 in both Syria and Turkey.

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Edrogan announced a three-month state of emergency across 10 provinces as different aid agencies rushed to rescue thousands of stranded Turkish nationals.

Rescuers battle bitter cold

Rescuers in Turkey and Syria battled bitter cold Tuesday in a race against time to find survivors under buildings flattened by an earthquake that killed more than 7,300 people.

Tremors that inflicted more suffering on a border area, already plagued by conflict, leaving people on the streets burning debris to try to stay warm as international aid began to arrive.

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But some extraordinary survival tales have emerged, including a newborn baby pulled alive from rubble in Syria, still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother who died in Monday's quake.

"We heard a voice while we were digging," Khalil al-Suwadi, a relative, told AFP. "We cleared the dust and found the baby with the umbilical cord (intact) so we cut it and my cousin took her to hospital."

The infant is the sole survivor of her immediate family, the rest of whom were killed in the rebel-held town of Jindayris.