The death toll in Turkey from Monday’s double earthquakes surpassed 17,000 today, and Turkish politicians are locked in a blame game as they separately toured the ravaged region where more than 120,000 aid workers continue their race against time.

As this article went to publication, the death toll in Turkey was 17,406 — with more than 3,000 people confirmed dead in the last six hours and an additional 3,300 lives lost in Syria. The number of injured was 70,347 since the two earthquakes of 7.7 and 7.6 magnitudes and 1,206 aftershocks. The Turkish relief agency AFAD said in a statement Thursday that more than 130,000 tents had been erected in the region, and 30,360 people were evacuated from earthquake-hit areas and placed in nearby hotels and accommodation centers.

It also announced that the rescue workers finished their work in two areas, Sanliurfa and Kilis, and moved to the remaining eight provinces. The relief agency said that the total number of people working in the devastated region was 120,344, including 6,479 international rescuers. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who continued his tour of the region with a stop in Gaziantep, the region’s industrial hub and a stronghold of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule, pledged to rebuild the region within a year — a tricky task as more than 900 buildings collapsed in Gaziantep alone. While Erdogan said that the number of destroyed buildings in the region was around 6,444, local journalists say that the number may be closer to 9,000 to 10,000, including those destroyed beyond repair.