DAD'S LAST CLASP

Grim face of quake carnage in Turkey beside tragic girl

A photo of a father grasping the hand of his dead daughter trapped beneath concrete emerged Tuesday, underscoring the heartbreaking aftermath of the monster earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

The 15-year-old girl, Irmak, is among the more than 7,800 people killed in the 7.8-magnitude quake that struck early Monday, with its epicenter near the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras.

Father Mesut Hancer sits atop a pile of debris in the haunting image, helplessly holding the lifeless hand of the teen, who was in bed when she was crushed to death by a slab of concrete.

Officials late Tuesday estimated the final death count in the region could be close to 20,000, and they expected thousands of unaccounted victims to be children.

Desperate cries from those trapped in the rubble could still be heard Tuesday by first responders, whose rescue efforts were hampered by rain, snow, bone-chilling temperatures and ongoing seismic activity.

“It’s now a race against time,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva. “Every minute, every hour that passes, the chances of finding survivors alive diminishes.”

Rescue teams and civilians working in freezing temperatures dug — sometimes with their bare hands — through the remains of buildings in search of trapped survivors and bodies.

Soccer star safe

Among those rescued was former World Cup star Christian Atsu, who was found alive but injured after being buried by rubble. The wing player from Ghana last year joined Turkish club Hatayspor, which feared Monday that he might have died in the temblor.

In Turkey, the death toll had climbed to 5,894 people by Tuesday evening, officials said. In Syria, the death toll was at least 1,932, according to the government and a rescue service in the rebel-held northwest. More than 34,000 people were injured in Turkey alone.

Turkish authorities say some 13.5 million residents were affected by the quake, and President Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency in 10 affected provinces.

The disaster exacerbated misery in Syria, where many of the people forced from their homes from the tremor had only been in the northwest to escape civil war.

“On top of displacement from our towns and after we finally found homes there is now another displacement,” said Yousef Haboush, who had left Damascus for the north in search of safety.

American rescuers were set to arrive in Turkey on Wednesday morning to assist the search. US Agency for International Development teams sent to the region will each have about 80 people, 12 dogs, and 170,000 pounds of equipment, including tools that break concrete.

At least 45 countries have offered their aid, Erdogan said, adding that international flights carrying supplies and aid would begin landing in Turkey’s airports on Thursday.