The toll due to the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria rose to 33,185 on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake had hit close to the Turkish city of Gaziantep early on February 6. It was followed by another earthquake of 7.5 magnitude and several aftershocks, causing widespread destruction.

On Sunday, Turkish justice officials identified 131 suspects linked with construction of buildings that collapsed during the earthquakes.

Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that the 131 persons were under investigation for their alleged responsibility in the construction of buildings that failed to withstand the tremors. Three persons were arrested, seven others were detained and another seven were barred from leaving Turkey, according to the country’s justice ministry, reported AP.

“We will follow this up meticulously until the necessary judicial process is concluded, especially for buildings that suffered heavy damage and buildings that caused deaths and injuries,” Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said, reported Reuters.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had acknowledged that there were challenges in delivering aid due to damaged transport links, but said the situation had been brought under control.

Meanwhile, in Syria, aid from government-held regions into territory controlled by opposition groups has been held up by approval issues with Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a United Nations spokesperson told Reuters.

The country has been mired in a civil war for the past 12 years.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the compounding crises of conflict, Covid-19, cholera, economic decline, and the earthquake have taken an unbearable toll for Syrians.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths, who visited the Turkish-Syrian border on Sunday, said that Syrians are “looking for international help that hasn’t arrived.”