45,000 KILLED

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 84, 3 January 1940, Page 8

45,000 KILLED

Estimate Of Turkish Casualties FLOOD REFUGEES By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. ANKARA, January 1. The first official estimate of the earthquake casualties gives the number dead as 45,000. While rescue work is proceeding villagers arc taking refuge in the. mountains irom the Anatolian floods. There is almost total submergence in the Gulf of Ismid area, the site of a Turkish naval base.

The Kernel Pasa dams burst and hundreds of houses collapsed, pinning 150 occupants in the ruins. The survivors fled in boats. The floods are now subsiding but the rain continues. Milder earthquake shocks are reported. Huge fissures have been torn in the mountainsides between Amasya and Tokat and are belching smoke, sulphur and boiling water. 'Many vessels are feared to have been lost in'storms on the Black Sea. Thu steamer Turkan sank with her crew of 20.

Trains crowded with injured are arriving at Sivas. The survivors are mental and physical wrecks, babbling disconnected tales' of the horror of their situation, which lasted four days till rescuers reached Erzincan. The Turkish Press is indignant ar German broadcasts, which not only refrain from expressing sympathy, but also comment on- mistaken Turkish policy,.comparing the country’s present leaders adversely with Kemal Ataturk. The Press compares this attitude with Britain’s svinpathy, and says it confirms the view that the Germans are doing their utmost to provoke the. world’s disgust. The Shah of Iran has telegraphed his sympathy to President Inonu, and the Government has cabled £625 to the Red Crescent. The extent of the floods .in western Turkey is now known to be much greater than was at first reported. Towns and villages have been submerged along a large area stretching from the Symrna region on the west coast to Erzincan on the Sea of Marmora on the north-west. Bridges and dams were destroyed in the Smyrna region and further north some of the rivers are said to have changed their courses. Rain Still Falling. Six feet of water is reported in manyplaces. The population of some 20 villages has taken refuge in the mountains and some 500 others are cut off from all communication. No reliable estimate of the number of casualties has yet been received, but it is known to be large. Some reports state that the flood waters have begun to subside, but anxiety has not been lessened, as rain is still falling.

One report states that at a place about 50 miles north of Smyrna an earthquake occurred this morning. If the report is confirmed, it will be the first earthquake to be felt in the west of Turkey.

Thousands of victims of the earthquake have already been buried, and trainloads of survivors have left for the southern provinces. Some shocks were reported this morning, but they were less frequent and less intense. A new danger has appeared in one of the mountainous regions in the form of large fissures in the ground gushing smoke, sulphur and boiling water.

Help is/being organized on all sides. Gifts are pouring in from neighbouring countries and from foreign legations in Turkey.—By radio.