Death toll across Türkiye, Syria following earthquake reach over 33,000
The death toll across Türkiye and Syria following last Monday’s catastrophic earthquake has reached more than 33,000. Turkish Emergency Coordination Center SAKOM has said, the death toll in Turkey has climbed to 29,605.
In Syria, the total number of deaths stands at 3,576. Meanwhile, Business owners in a central district of Turkey’s Antakya city were emptying their shops to prevent their merchandise from being stolen by looters in the wake of earthquakes.
In Antakya, residents and aid workers who came from other cities have cited worsening security conditions, with widespread accounts of businesses and collapsed homes being looted. Some residents who were left homeless by the earthquake are now sleeping in their cars or tents.
On other hand, the World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus yesterday said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had voiced openness to more border crossings for aid to be brought to quake victims in rebel-held northwestern part of the country.
Mr. Tedros told that he had met with the Syrian president in Damascus to discuss the response to the devastating earthquake. Rebel-held areas in northwestern Syria, which has been ravaged by more than a decade of civil war, are in a particularly dire situation.
