Body bags pile up in Turkey with at least 11,000 dead after megaquake ‘that MOVED country 10ft’… as Sun readers raise £250,000

BODY BAGS begin to pile up in Turkey as death toll from earthquake tops 11,200.

The massive 7.8 magnitude quake got stuck early Monday with such force that it reportedly moved the country 10 feet.

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Two more earthquakes struck within 24 hours of the first, leaving a trail of destruction that stretched for hundreds of kilometers along Turkey’s Syrian border.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency in the earthquake epicenter of Gaziantep and nine other cities.

Desperate searches ensue to find survivors buried under the rubble of thousands of destroyed buildings.

Harrowing images show body bags laid out in the street and it is feared the death toll could eventually reach 20,000.

The scale of the disaster is such that some bodies had to be covered with blankets after bags ran out at a hospital.

“People are dying every second – we are in a race against time,” said Mohammed Shibli of the Syrian White Helmet Civil Defense Group, which is leading the rescue effort in the country.

Professor Carlo Doglioni, president of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, said the earthquake moved Turkey 3 meters – about 10 feet.

“What we call the Arabian Plate moved about 3 meters northeast-southwest relative to the Anatolian Plate,” he told Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera.

“We are talking about a structure in the border area between this world, that of the Arabian Plate and that of the Anatolian Plate.”

Bighearted Sun readers have so far raised £250,000 in response to the devastation.

All funds from the Sun Earthquake Appeal will be donated to the British Red Cross for a major local mobilization.

It comes as a British father said he watched helplessly hundreds of miles away as his baby monitor recorded the moment the earthquake hit Turkey.

He said his “blood ran cold” as he viewed footage of the moment the big first quake hit early Monday

The baby monitor footage was shared by Lemi from Hull, who was in Istanbul when his wife and child were in the city of Adana, near the epicenter of the quake, staying with family.

The video shows little Katelyn in her crib as the room begins to shake and her distraught mother picks her up while she is heard saying “Oh my God”.

Lemi from Hull, there was a ‘big bang’ and the dog started barking before running downstairs with Katelyn.

“You can squeak the whole building and hear this knocking noise,” he told the Hull Daily Mail.

“When you see it, your blood freezes.”

After his wife Lemi sent video from the baby camera, he began the 535-mile drive to Adana, where he encountered scenes of devastation that saw over a dozen apartment blocks razed to the ground.

“Evacuation isn’t even an issue because as soon as the building collapses they’re already in and some of them are still under it,” said Lemi, who provides security for Hull City owner Acul Ilicali.

It comes as…

• The death toll has now reached 9,500, but as many as 20,000 are feared dead in Turkey and Syria.
• A series of devastating aftershocks have hampered rescue efforts after more than 11,000 collapsed
• At least three Britons are missing in the chaos, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.
• Trapped victims reportedly sent frantic voice memos asking for help.
• A grieving father was seen holding the lifeless hand of his daughter, whose body was locked in a ruined building in Kahramanmaras.
• Ex-Chelsea footballer Christian Atsu was miraculously pulled from the rubble of a building in the same city.
• A newborn baby was also pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in Jindires, Syria, after his mother died giving birth.
• Aid and rescuers are pouring in from around the world, including Britain and war-torn Ukraine.
• The Sun started the Earthquake Appeal to raise money to respond to the destruction.

“Some of them were saved. It’s only been a day, so the rescue is still ongoing. There are many other apartments that have not been scrutinized.”

A friend has now set up the Go Fund Me page on behalf of Lemi and Victoria.

At least 20,426 people have been injured so far, at least 11,302 buildings have been destroyed and it is feared the death toll could reach 20,000.

Heartbreaking stories emerge from the aftermath of the quake.

Harrowing images show Mesut Hancer holding the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak.

She had died in the city of Kahramanmaras, her fingers grasping in vain at the ruins of her house.

A new baby was born under the rubble and was taken to safety in Jenderes, Syria, with the umbilical cord still attached.

Tragically, her mother is said to have died shortly after giving birth while she was confined for more than 24 hours.

The sky turned black in the port city of Iskenderen as hundreds of shipping containers caught fire.

In Diyarbakir, a city of 1.8 million people in central Turkey, rescue workers struggled to find survivors in a collapsed eight-story apartment block.

A team of 76 search and rescue specialists with four sniffer dogs has already been dispatched from the UK.

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