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News > Turkey

Quake Death Toll Surpasses 17,000 in Türkiye and Syria

  • Girl wanders the streets after the earthquake, Feb. 6, 2023.

    Girl wanders the streets after the earthquake, Feb. 6, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/ @UKWomensHealth

Published 9 February 2023
Opinion

UN Special Envoy Pedersen called for humanitarian aid to be allowed to reach the areas of Syria affected by the earthquakes and for the emergency not to be politicized.

The death toll from Monday's devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria has surpassed 17,000, according to latest data.

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The death toll in Türkiye from the earthquakes has reached 14,014 with 63,794 injured, media reported on Thursday, citing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In Syria, at least 1,581 were killed in government-held areas, and the death toll in the opposition-held region is 1,975.

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Türkiye's province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time, followed by a magnitude 6.4 quake in the province of Gaziantep and a magnitude 7.6 earthquake at 1:24 p.m. local time in Kahramanmaras Province. The tremors with 7.7 and 7.6 magnitudes devastated almost 10 provinces in the country.

Rescue teams have been racing against time to save those trapped under the rubble in the freezing weather. Citizens who have been trying to hear good news about their loved ones were waiting for signs of hope.

During a press conference held in Geneva on Thursday, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called for humanitarian aid to be allowed to reach the areas of Syria affected by the earthquakes and for the emergency not to be politicized.

The Syrian population needs all kinds of humanitarian aid to cope with the destruction caused by the earthquake and the extreme cold.

"These are hard times, unimaginable pain for those of us who are not there. There are no words to define the situation," lamented Petersen, who described the earthquake as "one of the worst catastrophes the region has suffered in the last century."

Humanitarian assistance tasks are difficult to execute due to the bad state in which the roads are left, especially those cross-border roads in northern Syria.

The first UN-assisted convoy arrived today at the Bab al Hawa border crossing, which links Turkey with the Syrian province of Idleb. This territory is controlled by armed opposition groups and the one of the most affected by the earthquake.

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