Damascus: The death toll from the twin earthquakes that rocked Turkey and Syria last week has climbed to 29,605 and 1,414 respectively.
The number of wounded, meanwhile, rose to more than 80,000 in Turkey and 2,349 in Syria, according to official figures released on Sunday.
Turkey has issued arrest warrants for 134 suspects involved in the faulty construction of buildings that collapsed in the earthquakes, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Sunday.
Three of the suspects were arrested, Bozdag told reporters.
The catastrophic earthquakes have flattened more than 20,000 buildings across the 10 quake-affected regions, Xinhua news agency reported.
Yavuz Karakus and Sevilay Karakus, contractors of many buildings destroyed in the earthquake in southern Adiyaman province, were detained at Istanbul Airport while trying to escape to Georgia, the local NTV broadcaster reported on Sunday.
