Morning news brief: 35 dead in Peru landslide, Turkiye quake casualty mounts and more

A landslide in the South American country of Peru on Monday killed as many as 35 while several were left injured. Meanwhile, the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday has caused devastation on an unparalleled scale. Over 4,000 confirmed casualties have been reported so far while the UN fears over 20,000 could be dead. 

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Strong rains in Peru caused a landslide that killed at least 35 people in the southern Arequipa area, according to national emergency services on Monday. Search and rescue operations are still going on, according to Peru’s COEN national emergency centre.

At least 4,300 people have been killed and thousands of buildings reduced to rubble after a devastating earthquake of 7.8-magnitude struck Turkiye and Syria, even as rescuers try to look for survivors. It is believed that the toll might increase further as the rescue operation proceeds.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday ordered the immediate restoration of the Wikipedia website that was banned by the country’s telecom regulator last week citing failure to remove ‘sacrilegious content’.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the head of Russia’s mercenary group Wagner, claimed on Monday (February 6) that he was on a fighter jet that had bombed Bakhmut, which has become the epicentre of fighting in eastern Ukraine. 

Mortal remains of former Pakistan President General Retd Pervez Musharraf were brought to Karachi, Pakistan, in a UAE jet. His last rites will be held on Tuesday, 7 February at 1:45 PM PKT in Karachi. The jet landed at 9:52 PM Pakistan Standard Time on 7 February.