Earthquake in Turkey: `Independent' readers give victims pounds 250,000

NEARLY pounds 250,000 has been donated by readers of The Independent to alleviate the appalling plight of victims of the Turkish earthquake.

The British Red Cross, which is channelling money raised by our appeal, says the response has been very generous, but much more aid is still needed with hundreds of thousands of people turned into refugees in their own country.

The official death toll from the quake jumped by one-third yesterday to 18,000 and Turkish officials have been broadcasting appeals for everything from tents to bulldozers to help survivors rebuild their lives.

There are urgent medical worries too. Health workers say potential killers, such as typhoid fever, cholera and dysentery could flare at any time in the squalid encampments of those left homeless by the massive quake.