WHO chief worries about quiet areas of Turkey and Syria after earthquake – SABC News
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that he was particularly concerned about areas of Turkey and Syria that had not been reported after a major earthquake that killed thousands.
“We are particularly concerned about areas where we still have no information,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a meeting of the WHO’s executive board in Geneva.
“Mapping the damage is one way to understand where we need to focus our attention.”
The death toll in Syria
At least 1,602 people have been killed and thousands injured in Syria after a series of deadly earthquakes and aftershocks in neighboring Turkey, authorities and rescuers said on Tuesday.
State news agency SANA reported that at least 812 people were killed and 1,449 people were wounded in the government-held provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Idlib and Tartus.
At least 790 people have been killed in Syria’s opposition-held northwest and 2,200 wounded, with the number expected to “rise dramatically,” the White Helmets rescue team said.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and neighboring Syria early Monday, toppling thousands of buildings, including many apartment blocks, destroying hospitals and leaving thousands injured or homeless
