Iran Press/ Asia: In Turkey, the death toll has risen to at least 14,014, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday while visiting impacted areas in the southern city of Gaziantep.
The total number of deaths in Syria reached to at least 3,162, including 1,900 in areas in the northwest according to the ‘White Helmets’ civil defense group, and 1,262 deaths in government-controlled parts of Syria, according to Syrian state media.
Quake hit Turkish residents call for faster relief service
Tens of thousands more have been reported injured in both countries, as rescue workers struggle to locate survivors in the rubble of fallen buildings amid a cold winter blast.
A top UN official has said that 10.9 million people have been affected by the disaster in Syria, as new snowfall compounded the humanitarian crisis further.
The number of people who were in need of assistance in the region before the earthquake stood at 15.3 million – but that will now have to be revised, the UN resident coordinator for Syria, El-Mostafa Benlamlih, told a briefing news presser.
In the ancient city of Aleppo alone, 100,000 people are believed to be homeless, with 30,000 currently sheltered in schools and mosques.
While Turkey has received help from dozens of countries, the aid situation in Syria is less clear as the Syrian government is under harsh western sanctions.
Damascus called that sanctions lifted for helping disaster-affected victims.
Syrian victims of the devastating quake may now become hostages of the politics that have divided the country for over a decade.
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