India to send third NDRF team to earthquake-hit Turkey as death toll crosses 11,000

India is sending a fresh team of the National Disaster Response Force along with relief materials to Turkey even as the death toll in the devastating earthquake crossed 11,000 on Wednesday.

India has already sent two teams of the NDRF to the West Asian country and have launched rescue operations at multiple collapsed structures. The third team has already been airlifted from Varanasi to Delhi from where they will leave for Turkey tonight, ANI reported.

The team consists of 51 rescuers and a specially-trained dog squad.

India on Tuesday sent four special aircraft to Turkey, carrying relief materials, a mobile hospital and specialised search and rescue teams.

A massive earthquake of 7.8 magnitude on the Richter Scale, ripped through Turkey and Syria on February 6, followed by a series of aftershocks that caused huge devastation, loss of lives and damage to infrastructure in both countries.

Rescue workers in Turkiye are racing against time to save people trapped under the rubble of thousands of buildings.

According to the Associated Press, the death toll rose Wednesday to more than 11,000.

Search teams from more than two dozen countries have joined tens of thousands of local emergency personnel, and aid pledges have poured in from around the world.

But the scale of destruction from the 7.8 magnitude quake and its powerful aftershocks was so immense and spread so wide, including in areas isolated by Syria's ongoing civil war that many are still waiting for help.