MADRID, February 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Turkish authorities counted about 32,000 deaths this Tuesday from earthquakes recorded last week in Kahramanmaras province near the border with Syria, which have claimed about 36,000 lives, according to balance sheet officials in both countries.
The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), which reports to Turkey’s Interior Ministry, has said in a statement published on its website that 31,974 deaths have been confirmed in ten provinces so far, adding that nearly 195,000 people have been “evacuated”. .
It has also pointed out that more than 35,200 search and rescue team members and members of various government agencies are working on the ground, including about 9,500 who have traveled from abroad.
To that death toll must be added 1,414 deaths in Syrian government-controlled areas and almost 2,300 in rebel-held areas in the north-west of the country, according to Syrian civil defense officials known as the “White Helmets”. ‘.
The “White Helmets” announced this Tuesday on their Twitter account that “according to the consolidation of data from the medical authorities, the number of victims of the earthquake in north-western Syria is 2,274 dead and more than 12,400 injured”. “Our teams responded to 2,170 of the deaths and treated nearly 2,950 injuries,” they added.
“Search operations to recover the bodies of the deceased are underway in several locations in Idlib and Aleppo provinces, eight days after the violent earthquake struck the region,” Syrian Civil Defense concluded.
The World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for emergencies, Rick Brennan, said Sunday from Damascus the agency estimated at least 9,300 had died in Syria — about 4,800 in areas controlled by the authorities and 4,500 in areas in Syria’s rebel hands — although he noted that at the moment there is no way to create an adjusted forecast.