Cairo: The death toll from the devastating earthquakes in Syria stands at 8,500, with the figure expected to grow further in the coming days, Rick Brennan, the acting regional emergency director for the Eastern Mediterranean office of the World Health Organization (WHO), said.
“The data that we have available to us right now is that there has been around 4,000 deaths and around 2,500 injuries in the government-held areas and around 4,500 deaths and 7,500 injuries in the north-west,” Brennan told a briefing.
At the same time, he added that it was difficult to give the exact number of casualties, as they were growing every day.
Meanwhile, Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash told the al-Mayadeen broadcaster that the death toll from the quake in the government-controlled areas stood at 1,414, with another 2,349 injured.
On Monday, parts of Turkey and Syria were hit by a series of powerful earthquakes and aftershocks that killed over 31,000 people in total, destroying thousands of homes.
