INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria last week crossed 35,000 on Monday as rescue
workers continued to pull survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings.According to Turkey&s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority
(AFAD,) the death toll from last week&s earthquake in the country stood at 31,643 on Monday morning.In an update shared on Sunday, the
Syrian government said 1,414 people have died in areas under the control of the Assad regime, while the rebel group White Helmets noted that
the toll in the region under their control stood at 2,166.On Monday, rescuers were able to rescue a 40-year-old woman from under a collapsed
building in the Gaziantep province, just hours after a 62-year-old woman and a child were rescued in Hatay province.Hailed as &miracle
rescues& by the Turkish media, such incidents are becoming rarer and rarer as more people likely succumb to cold temperatures and lack water
and food.As rescue work continues in Turkey, adequate relief has failed to reach civil-war-hit Syria, especially in the rebel-held
north-west region, raising fears that the actual death toll may be significantly higher than what has been recorded so far.U.N
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths visited the Turkish-Syrian border on Sunday and tweeted that international
help hasn&t arrived in north-west Syria and people in the region &rightly feel abandoned.&Griffiths on Sunday said he expects the final toll
will be &double or more& than the 28,000 that had been reported at the time
This means the final number could be near 60,000
This is nearly three times the estimate made by the WHO last week.The earthquake is already the world&s deadliest natural disaster since the
2010 Haiti Earthquake which killed more than 100,000 people.Last Monday, Turkey and Syria were hit by a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake
followed by over 2,000 aftershocks, including a 7.7 magnitude, between Monday last week and Sunday.The quake&s epicenter was located just 20
miles from the major Turkish city of Gaziantep, according to the United States Geological Survey
As of Sunday, nearly 25,000 buildings had collapsed due to the earthquake.The post Turkey-Syria earthquake death toll rises to 35,000, but
more survivors rescued first appeared on Ariana News.
