Three men accused of looting in an earthquake-hit province of Turkey were on February 12 lynched, according to local media reports and video footage posted on social media.

The lynchings in Hatay province reportedly took the form of beatings, while there are claims that the police failed to intervene as the murders took place.

Moments of the lynching and the corpses of the three men were posted on Twitter under @postalhaber.

Video footage shows three men carrying furniture on a haulage vehicle. According to the allegations referred to on social media, someone yells out that the three men in question are looters.

The recording then shows the individuals being beaten to death and their vehicle destroyed.

Since Turkey was hit by two huge earthquakes on February 6, violence in the region has been snowballing.

Some observers say the government is failing to keep the peace. There are also claims that there are conspiratorial officials in favour of controlled chaos that cn be used in favour of postponing the approaching May 14 parliamentary and presidential elections.

The death toll from the catastrophic earthquake that hit both southern Turkey and northern Syria on the morning of February 13 was updated to more than 35,000, with 31,643 of the recorded fatalities in Turkey.

UN aid officials were pushing for more aid access to rebel-controlled northwestern Syria, where only one crossing from Turkey is open.

Search and rescue teams were winding down their work, with the chances of finding more survivors in the earthquake ruins approaching a negligible level. The rescue of a seven-month-old baby girl in Hatay province was one of the rare moments of joy for rescue teams on February 12.