72 after catas*trophe | 3,556 people ki*lled in Syria due to devas*tating earthquake
SOHR activists have reported a spike in the number of people killed due to the devastating earthquake, which hit north Syria region on Monday dawn, where at least 3,556 people were killed and nearly 4,000 others were injured. The fatalities are distributed as follows:
- 1,581 people in regime-controlled areas, mostly in Latakia and Aleppo.
- 1,975 people in areas controlled by the “Salvation Government” and the “Syrian Interim Government,” including hundreds of fatalities in Jendires and 161 others in Al-Atareb city in Aleppo countryside.
The total death toll does not include 375 Syrians, who were killed in Turkish territory due to the earthquake and whose bodies were transported to Syria.
The violent earthquake also caused total and partial damage to buildings in nearly 120 villages, towns and cities in the middle, north-west and west of Syria.
Hospitals throughout Syria have been running at full capacity and rescue teams have been exerting utmost efforts since Monday dawn, attempting to save and rescue the largest possible number of the earthquake victims. Also, residents in different areas in north Syria region have participated in the rescue efforts to recover people locked down under rubble, especially since no diggers, machineries or rescue teams have been sent to these areas.
It is worth noting that ongoing increase in the number of fatalities is attributed to the inability of medical and rescue teams to save injured people and survivors stranded under rubble and inability of rescue teams to reach many areas affected by the earthquake in light of the poor capabilities.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights appeals to international authorities to interfere immediately to save injured people and survivors in light of the poor capabilities of Syrian rescue teams.
SOHR also calls upon Turkish authorities to receive injured Syrian people in hospitals in Turkey and send Turkish medical teams to the disaster-stricken areas.