Turkey’s Ministry for Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, the Health Ministry, and the Disaster Management Authority (AFAD) did not respond to requests for comment for this story. “With an optimistic estimate, I would say that 3 million people will be sick,” said Mehmet Şeyhmus Ensari, civil engineer and Chairman of Turkey’s Association of Asbestos Dismantling Experts. ![]() Some experts said a ‘secondary disaster’ of toxic contamination could be even more severe than the quakes themselves. ![]() People in many places have rushed to clear mountains of wreckage and dumped the contents of buildings indiscriminately, according to numerous eyewitness reports and television footage. The United Nations estimated the disaster generated at least 10 times as much rubble as the last big Turkish earthquake in 1999. The sheer volume of debris left by the quake is enormous, even compared to other major disasters. ![]() Reuters spoke to a dozen environmental health professionals and experts who said that huge plumes of dust released from demolished buildings are carrying poisons into rivers and plants, lungs and organs, risking serious health problems for years to come. Asbestos, silica, mercury and lead are among thousands of toxins released by the huge earthquakes in February that killed more than 54,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
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