Turkey-Syria Earthquake: UN relief chief foresees tragic toll, says, 'Deaths to surpass 50,000'

According to Martin Griffiths, the UN relief chief, the death toll from the catastrophic earthquake in Turkey and Syria will likely "double or more" from the current count of 28,000. Upon arrival in Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of the first earthquake, in southern Turkey, Martin Griffiths stated to Sky News that "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.

𝟱.𝟯 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗮: 𝗨𝗡

As of now, the official number of fatalities from the earthquake stands at 24,617 in Turkey and 3,574 in Syria, however, many rescue workers are still searching through the rubble in search of survivors.

According to AFP, the United Nations has warned that a minimum of 870,000 people across Turkey and Syria urgently require hot meals, and it is estimated that up to 5.3 million individuals may have become homeless in Syria alone.

𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝟮𝟲 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗸𝗲, 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 $𝟰𝟮.𝟴 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that the earthquake has impacted close to 26 million individuals and has made an urgent appeal for $42.8 million to address the immediate health needs in Turkey and Syria.

According to Turkey's disaster agency, more than 32,000 individuals from Turkish organizations are actively involved in search-and-rescue operations, with the assistance of 8,294 international rescue workers.