The Syria and Türkiye earthquake death toll has topped 37 000 after a week of search and rescue operations through the rubble.
Authorities have said 31 643 people died in Türkiye alone. A further over 5 814 people were killed in Syria when the 7.8 magnitude quake also rocked parts of the western Asian country located in the eastern Mediterranean.
At least 1 414 people have died in areas controlled by President Bashar Hafez al-Assad’s forces, while in rebel-held northwest Syria reports say over 4 400 people have died, according to OCHA, A UN relief agency.
Al-Assad has agreed to let the UN deliver aid to rebel-held parts of the country through two more border crossings from Türkiye.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths has said that the rescue phase is coming to a close and that the world has so far failed the people in northwest Syria.
The UN estimates that up to 5.3-million people in Syria may have been left homeless, and about 900 000 people are in urgent need of food in Türkiye and Syria.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
