International
Death toll from Turkey, Syria rises to 41,000
The destructive consequences of the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that struck on the Turkey-Syria border on February 6 has continued to worsen.
This was as the official death toll in Turkey rose by nearly 4,000 to 35,418, while the death toll in Syria exceeded 5,800 on Monday.
In the ongoing rescue efforts, more than 8,000 people have so far been rescued in Turkey, as the number of people under the rubble in both countries remains unknown.
UNICEF in a report on Monday revealed that thousands of those who died in the disaster were children, adding that more than seven million children were affected.
The report states: “While the total number of children affected remains unclear, 4.6 million children live in the 10 provinces of Turkey hit by the earthquakes, and more than 2.5 million children are affected in Syria.”
The development, according WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, was the worse natural disaster in the region.
READ ALSO:Death toll in Turkey, Syria earthquake passes 36,000 mark, UN says
“We are witnessing the worst natural disaster in the WHO European region for a century, and we are still learning about its magnitude.
“The needs are huge and increasing by the hour. Some 26 million people across both countries need humanitarian assistance”, Kluge noted.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a statement on Tuesday admitted the disaster was a social catastrophe that had devastated buildings and countless lives.
Erdoğan promised response strategies capable of compensating for the losses in the disaster.
“We will relieve the pain, heal the wounds and compensate the losses of this disaster together, without ever falling into frustration, weariness, fatigue or despair”, he said.
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