The Metro leads with a picture of a child being pulled from the wreckage of a collapsed building after two huge earthquakes left thousands dead in Turkey and Syria. The paper says residents, turned rescuers, gently passed the young girl between a gap that was once her home.
Leading with the same picture of a girl being rescued from the rubble, the Daily Mirror describes it as a “moment of hope amid the horror”. The paper says there is a race against time to save people who are trapped after hundreds of buildings collapsed. A British rescuer said “I can only describe it as Armageddon”, notes the paper.
International rescue missions were rushing to Syria and Turkey on Monday after the region was hit by the most powerful earthquake in at least a century, the Guardian reports. The paper says a 7.8 magnitude quake hit in the darkness of a winter morning and was followed by a second 7.7 magnitude quake in the middle of the day.
The Times says the death toll after the earthquake was expected to rise on Monday night, in a region already suffering war and a refugee crisis. The World Health Organization said the total figure could increase eightfold, the paper notes. It also features a picture of a girl being carried through a crowd after she was rescued from a collapsed building in Diyarbakir, Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip says that as removal efforts continue “we cannot know how high the number of dead and injured will rise”, reports the Financial Times. The paper says the earthquake was the “biggest quake in 84 years” and tremors were also felt in Egypt.
Rescuers were racing against the clock to save people trapped under the rubble of some 3,000 buildings flattened in Turkey, the Daily Express reports. The paper says most victims were asleep when the first quake hit at about 0400 local time.
“Help them” declares the Sun, as it reports 10,000 people are feared dead after the earthquakes. The paper leads with the launch of its Sun Earthquake Appeal and says all money raised will be donated to the British Red Cross. This story appears alongside a picture of Beyoncé at the Grammy’s 2023 where she won a record-breaking 32nd award.
Meanwhile, the former first minister Alex Salmond has accused Nicola Sturgeon of “throwing away” years of momentum for Scottish independence over her new trans law, the Daily Telegraph says. The paper reports on Mr Salmond’s first intervention in the row. He says Ms Sturgeon’s “self-indulgent nonsense” on gender self-identification laws had seen backing for independence decline sharply, the Telegraph notes.
Amid warnings that Britain can no longer defend itself, Rishi Sunak was under pressure to increase military funding on Monday night, the Daily Mail reports. The paper says there are growing fears that there will be no extra money for the UK’s Armed Forces, despite the war in Ukraine. According to sources, this has “unsettled” senior military officers, the paper notes.
The return of former prime minister Liz Truss has damaged the Tory party, the i reports. Referencing a poll, the paper notes that people still do not like Truss and she has not been forgiven. The poll also reveals that Truss’ “toxic effect” was “baked in” from her time at No 10, the paper says.
The Daily Star says half-term holidays are being hit with new travel chaos as the number of new passports being lost hits a five-year high. Some 1 in 20 people are waiting more than 10 weeks for their passport, the paper notes.
