The UN official made the comments in an interview with Sky News on Saturday, while visiting Turkey’s Kahramanmaraş province, the epicenter of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that hit southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria .
“I find it difficult to estimate (the number of deaths) accurately because you have to go under the ruins, but I’m sure it will double or even increase,” said Martin Griffiths.
“We haven’t started counting the number of deaths yet,” the expert said, noting that entire cities had been reduced to rubble.
Read more: Death toll rises to 25,000 in earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
“The most devastating earthquake in a century,” he summed up.
Amid the disaster, he appreciated the efforts of the international community, to which dozens of countries provided assistance to Turkey, and urged the government of Damascus to take further steps to support opposition areas after international humanitarian aid arrived.
In Syria, which has been embroiled in civil war for 12 years, the earthquake hit both opposition-held and government-held areas.
Authorities have so far recorded 24,617 dead and more than 80,000 injured on Turkish soil, making the earthquakes recorded this week the most devastating since 1939.
As of this Sunday, the death toll in Syria stands at 3,575 and the number of injured at about 5,300, recorded mainly in opposition areas in the northwest of the Arab country where the White Helmet rescue group ended their search for survivors this Saturday. .
According to the organization, 2,167 people were killed and 2,950 injured in rebel-controlled areas in Idlib and Aleppo provinces, while 1,408 people were killed and 2,341 injured in areas controlled by Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Source: Ultimahora
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Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
