. this is cnn breaking news. welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world i m rosemary church, we continue tracking breaking news out of the middle east this hour where major earthquake killed hundreds of people in syria and turkey and the death toll is rising. syrian state media report at least 237 people have died in syria and more than 600 injured an unknown number could be trapped under rubble. we got this video earlier of a rescuer carrying an injured child away from the rubble of a damaged building. the white helmets rescue group known as the syrian self-defense declared the north western part of syria a disaster area, dozens of buildings collapsed that both country, turkey s vice president said at least 284 died in southern turkey and more than 23 hon injured, emergency workers asking for silence to hear possible cries for help from people trapped under the rubble. the governor of istanbul said nearly 1,000 search and rescue
Rest there. Are fears the death toll will continue to rise as Emergency Crews Dig through the rubble of collapsed buildings but many are holding out hope theme find people looichd under that debris. Those who survived are now coping with trauma. Many sleeping outdoors after losing homes, others with a place to live rest tate to return home worried that there could be aftershocks at their homes could collapse. Morocco king has instructed officials to set up inter minimum Material Commission to provide relief. We get details now from cnns sam kylie. King mohammed has declared three days of National Mourning because his country has been completely devastated by an extraordinary earthquake totally unexpected in cities like this, marrakech. This has been the scene in the medina the most ancient part of the city a building ripped away by this earthquake but the scenes have been even worse in the interior of the country where one woman who was trapped for some 12 whurs pulled from rubble in a
the ceasefire came into effect at 7am local time this morning, a shaky start to that ceasefire, i could still see and hear the sounds of firing until about 7:15am, but since then things have generally been quiet. it looks like this ceasefire is holding, there we can still hear things like drones in the sky above us. this is an important steel because the hope is that in the next few hours, the largest group so far israeli hostages will be released from gaza. this deal has taken weeks to negotiate between israel and hamas, brokered by qatar. what they are hoping is that 50 hostages, all israeli nationals or dual nationals will be released in groups over a period of the next four days. we know these will all be women and children, we know that male hostages are not expected to be released in this group. israel has already contacted their families and they are waiting now anxiously for the next few hours for the bronze to be returned to them. we know they will be given medical c
many thousands of people, perhaps tens of thousands of civilians sheltering at the al shifa hospital along with some localjournalists. the world health organization says 20 hospitals in gaza are now non operational. people around al shifa hospital report intense fighting. and in the early hours of friday, there was the sound of a large explosion. there was panic and confusion in the hospital courtyard following the explosion. israel s military says it is investigating reports that the areas around the hospitals have been struck. it s previously said its forces were operating close to shifa hospital, which it says is above hamas headquarters. this in other developments, reuters news agency is reporting agency is reporting that the palestinian authority is ready to assume responsibilities in the gaza strip once the war has ended. territory the pa president, mahmoud abbas, said it would be part of a comprehensive solution for the occupied territories and gaza. also, president