The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria rises to more than 36,000, according to official balances

13 Feb. () –

The death toll from the earthquakes registered last week in southern Turkey, near the border with Syria, has risen to more than 36,200, according to the latest official balances, which place the number of deaths in more than 31,600. Turkish territory.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), under the Turkish Ministry of the Interior, has indicated in a statement published on its website that so far 31,643 deaths and 158,165 injuries have been confirmed in the ten provinces affected by the earthquakes. which had their epicenter in Pazarcik, in Kahramanmaras.

Likewise, it has highlighted that since the first earthquake there have been more than 2,700 aftershocks and has detailed that nearly 35,500 search and rescue team workers work in the area, including more than 9,700 arrivals from other countries.

The Turkish authorities created an airlift for the transfer of personnel and materials to the region, while 26 ships have been assigned to the region for support tasks, transfer of personnel and material, and evacuation of the wounded.

On the other hand, more than 200,000 tents and two million blankets have been sent to the affected provinces to support those affected. 334 mobile kitchens and other support systems have also arrived in the area to provide food to the victims.

To this death toll must be added more than 4,500 deaths in Syria, including 1,414 in government-controlled areas and some 3,160 in rebel-held areas in the northwest of the country, according to data from the Syrian Civil Defense, known as ‘white helmets’.

However, the regional director of emergencies of the World Health Organization (WHO), Rick Brennan, said on Sunday from Damascus that the agency estimates that at least 9,300 would have died in Syria — some 4,800 in areas controlled by the authorities and 4,500 in areas in rebel hands–, although he qualified that right now there is no way to make an adjusted projection.

“We fear that these numbers are going to continue to rise, particularly as we get more access to those areas,” he said. For his part, the executive director of the WHO emergencies program, Michael Ryan, described a catastrophic panorama, estimating that Syria’s health system has been “pulverized” by ten years of instability and is now impossible to provide adequate care. .