The United Nations has warned that at least 870,000 people are in urgent need of food aid, hot meals, in Turkey and Syria. It is estimated that up to 5.3 million people were left homeless in Syria alone.
The death toll from the devastating earthquake – which today surpassed 28,000 dead – in Turkey and Syria, will “double” and threatens to rise “even more”, warned Martin Griffiths, the United Nations’ top coordination official. of humanitarian operations.
Mr Griffiths went on Saturday to the town of Kahramanmaras, near the epicenter of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6, which killed 24,617 people in Turkey and another 3,547 in Syria, or a total of 28,191 people, according to the latest estimates. recent, still provisional data from the two countries.
“I think it’s hard to estimate (the death toll) accurately,” however, “I’m sure it will double, if not even more,” Mr Griffiths told Sky News television.
“The death count hasn’t really started yet,” he added.
Tens of thousands of rescue workers continue to search the wreckage, amid the cold weather that worsens the situation for the millions of earthquake victims.
The United Nations has warned that at least 870,000 people are in urgent need of food aid, hot meals, in Turkey and Syria. It is estimated that up to 5.3 million people were left homeless in Syria alone.
Nearly 26 million people have been affected by the disaster, the World Health Organization said yesterday, appealing for $42.8 million in donations to fund the effort to address immediate health needs.
According to Turkey’s Disaster Response Agency (AFAD), more than 32,000 members of Turkish rescue teams are involved in the search, to which are added 8,294 members of rescue teams and aid agencies from abroad.
“Soon, the people tasked with the search and rescue operations will give way to humanitarian workers whose task will be to take care of the extremely large number of people affected in the coming months,” emphasized yesterday Saturday, Mr. .Griffiths in a video uploaded to his Twitter account.
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