The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, has expressed this Saturday his fear that the final death toll from the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey will end up exceeding 50,000 dead, in statements to Sky News.
The humanitarian official has given this estimate at a time when the latest official balance for this Saturday is around 24,500 deaths, mainly in Turkey, where more than 21,000 deaths have already been confirmed.
“It is difficult to calculate precisely because we have to keep looking through the rubble, but I am sure that the number will double, at least,” Griffiths explained during a visit to the care centers in the Turkish city of Adana. , where he has described the degree of devastation as “terrifying”, before leaving for the Syrian town of Aleppo.
In reality, we have not yet started with the true count of deaths,” added the humanitarian official.