New Delhi: The toll in the catastrophic earthquake in the Turkish-Syria border region has crossed 17,500, reports said on February 9.India’s Ministry of External Affairs has announced that 10 Indian nationals are stuck on remote parts of the country and that one person who had gone on a business trip to Malatya is missing.The 10 who are stuck are uninjured and safe.India has dispatched six Air Force flights to Turkey under ‘Operation Dost’. The flights have carried search and rescue teams, dog squads, essential search and access equipment, medicines and medical equipment to aid in relief efforts. Updates on Twitter by external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and spokesperson Arindam Bagchi suggest India has set up a field hospital in Hatay to help with emergency care.This field hospital in Hatay, Türkiye will treat those affected by the earthquake. Our team of medical & critical care specialists and equipment are preparing to treat emergencies. #OperationDost https://t.co/YVwxfJoJEf pic.twitter.com/bIsNxWxkHf— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 8, 2023 The Turkish state’s Anadolu Agency, citing the country’s disaster management bureau, reported on Thursday that 12,391 people have died in Turkey alone.Syria’s health ministry, meanwhile, has calculated the death toll in government controlled areas in Syria at more than 1,200. The White Helmets responders group based in Syria’s rebel controlled region in the northwest said at least 1,600 people had died.Night search and rescue operations in Jandires in the northern countryside of #Aleppo, where hundreds remain trapped under the rubble. We are racing against time. Every minute counts.#Syria #earthquake pic.twitter.com/xeOBrOxuIE— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) February 8, 2023Multiple news reports have cited how rescue efforts are particularly complicated in Syria, with some territories under opposition control.No help arrived from outside Syria, people save their families and children themselves. #Idlib #earthquake #Syria pic.twitter.com/xOO55kOs5v— عمر البم | Omar Al-Bam (@omar_albam) February 7, 2023Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country is working to open two additional border gates to Syria to enable humanitarian aid into the war-torn country.The sanctions-hit Syrian government has put in an official request to the EU for emergency assistance through the civil protection mechanism, the bloc’s commissioner for crisis management has said.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a donor conference for international aid for Syria and Turkey in the wake of Monday’s devastating earthquake has been planned for March.For the first time in 24 years, the Istanbul stock exchange announced that it is closing for five days in response to the earthquake.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who visited the disaster area, acknowledged “shortcomings” in his country’s response to the huge earthquake.(With inputs from DW)This story, which was published on February 9, 2023, at 9:12 am has been updated on the same date at 9:58 pm with information on the death toll.