As Turkey struggles to manage the worst disaster in its modern history, concerns are growing for the victims of the tragedy in Syria. At least 46,000 people have been killed in the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria.

The death toll from the earthquakes that occurred on Monday, February 6, has risen to 40,642 in Turkey, as the head of the Turkish disaster response agency AFAD, Yunus Sezer, said today Saturday. At least 6,000 people have been killed and more than 14,749 injured in Syria.

The World Food Program (WFP), for its part, is pressing Syrian authorities in the northwest to stop blocking access to the region as it seeks to help thousands of people affected by the earthquakes.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, WFP director David Beazley said the governments of Syria and Turkey were working very well together, but the agency’s operations were being hampered in northwest Syria.

The agency said last week that supplies there were running out, and it called for more border crossings from Turkey to be opened.

“The problems we are having are with operations in northwest Syria where the authorities in northwest Syria they don’t give us the access we need,” Beazley stated. “This is causing a bottleneck in our business. It needs to be fixed immediately.”

“Time is running out, and we’re running out of money. Our business needs about $50 million a month just for our earthquake response, so if Europe doesn’t want a new wave of refugees, we must have the support we need,” Beazley warned.

In Syria, already rocked by a civil war that has lasted more than a decade, the highest number of deaths is recorded in the northwestern part of the country.

The area is under the control of rebels who are at war with forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, complicating efforts to get aid to the people.

Thousands of Syrians who had sought refuge in Turkey from the war have returned to their homes in the war zone – at least for now.