It had been a week since powerful earthquakes shattered Turkiye and Syria. Media reports say the death toll from Turkiye-Syria earthquakes have exceeded 34,000 so far.
The Washington Post, citing officials in the countries, reported yesterday that more than 29,600 people in Turkey and 4,500 in Syria have been killed in the quakes, officials in the countries said. The numbers, they warned, would almost certainly rise.
India’s Pratidin Time reported yesterday the death toll from the quakes reached at least 34,179 on Sunday (local time). The Turkish Emergency Coordination Center (SAKOM) reportedly said that the death toll in Turkiye has reached 29,605.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that more than 1.1 million people were displaced in Turkey. An untold number lay buried under the rubble.
The confirmed death toll in Syria is 4,574, according to Pratidin Time. The health ministry of the Salvation Government governance authority was quoted as saying that the number includes more than 3,160 in opposition-held parts of northwestern Syria.
According to the state-run news agency SANA, the Syrian death toll also includes 1,414 deaths in government-controlled parts of Syria.
Dan Stoenescu, the European Union’s chargé d’affaires to Syria, urged member states to ensure that sanctions against the Syrian government “do not impede” aid delivery.
The United States reportedly announced that it is temporarily lifting sanctions on aid to Syria in the wake of two devastating earthquakes.
CNN, citing UNOCHA spokesperson Madevi Sun-Suon, reports that a convoy of 10 United Nations aid trucks entered northwest Syria through the Bab Al-Hawa Turkish border crossing on Sunday. The trucks from the UN’s International Organization for Migrants (IOM) reportedly carried comprehensive shelter kits
TASS news agency reported on February 10 that the second plane of the Russian Emergencies Ministry with 35 more tons of humanitarian aid has landed in quake-hit Syria. In all, Russian emergencies ministry delivered 70 tons of humanitarian aid to Syria during February 9-10.
