Turkey-Syria earthquake deaths to top 50,000: UN relief chief’s dire prediction

The death toll from the massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria will “double or more” from its current level of 28,000, UN relief chief Martin Griffiths told Sky News.

Arriving in Turkey’s southern city of Kahramanmaras, the epicentre of the first earthquake, Martin Griffiths said, “I think it is difficult to estimate precisely as we need to get under the rubble but I’m sure it will double or more.”

“We haven’t really begun to count the number of dead,” he said.

“Soon, the search and rescue people will make way for the humanitarian agencies whose job it is to look after the extraordinary numbers of those affected for the next months,” he added.

While the official deaths in the earthquake now stand at 24,617 in Turkey and 3,574 in Syria, tens of thousands of rescue workers continued to search for survivors in the rubble.

The United Nations earlier warned that at least 870,000 people urgently need hot meals across Turkey and Syria and up to 5.3 million people may have been made homeless in Syria alone, AFP reported.

While the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that almost 26 million people have been affected by the earthquake, launching an urgent appeal for $42.8 million to cope with immediate health needs in the two countries.

Turkey’s disaster agency said over 32,000 people from Turkish organisations are working on search-and-rescue efforts while 8,294 international rescuers are helping with the effort.