Relatives were left scouring body bags laid out in a hospital car park in Turkey's southern city of Antakya to search for missing relatives, an indication of the scale of the tragedy.

At least 19 Bangladeshi students have been shifted to Ankara from Gaziantep, one of the most affected regions of Turkey, which suffered a major earthquake killing over 17,000 people since Monday.

Says current envoy

The 5.1-magnitude quake hit around 1.28 pm (0628 GMT) on land just southwest of Jayapura city at a depth of 22 kilometres

Bangladesh last night sent a 61-member rescue team to Turkey, which has seen more than 15,000 deaths in the earthquake and its aftermath.

Some of the heaviest devastation occurred near the quake's epicentre between Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, where entire city blocks lay in ruins.

"The Bangladesh government has declared one day of state mourning marking the deaths in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. To observe the day of mourning, the peace rally programme of Dhaka City (north) unit Awami League has been postponed," reads a press release of the AL unit, signed by William Proloy Samaddar, its office secretary.

AFP reporters were unable to access the social media network across Turkey. It still worked using VPN services that disguise a user's location.

Hopes were fading Thursday for rescuing survivors of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, which has killed over 17,500 people in one of the deadliest tremors in decades

Over 11,200 people have been killed and thousands more injured after the earthquake struck southeastern Turkey and neighbouring Syria at 04:17 am (0117 GMT) on Monday

Officials and medics said 9,057 people had died in Turkey and 2,662 in Syria from Monday's 7.8-magnitude tremor, bringing the total to 11,719.

Bangladesh government has declared one day of state mourning for tomorrow marking the deaths in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

China will offer emergency humanitarian aid of 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) to earthquake-hit Syria, its foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, told a regular news briefing on Wednesday.

Turkey government expressed its gratitude for sending the rescue crew

As it was snowing for a large part of the time Rinku was trapped beneath the rubble, his condition had deteriorated.

Officials and medics said 6,957 people had died in Turkey and 2,547 in Syria, bringing the total to 9,504. But that could yet double if the worst fears of experts are realised.

Golam Sayed Rinku was hospitalised in critical condition

After the series of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, which claimed more than 5,000 lives, a miracle baby was found by the rescuers under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Syria.

Up to 23 million people could be affected by the massive earthquake that has killed thousands in Turkey and Syria, the WHO warned on Tuesday, promising long-term assistance.

Atsu, 31, joined Turkish Super Lig side Hatayspor in September.