Death toll in Turkey and Syria surges to more than 19,000

Death toll in Turkey and Syria surges to more than 19,000

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said the death toll in his country from Monday’s devastating earthquake has now reached 16, 170, bringing the combined total of fatalities in Turkey and Syria to 19,362.

State officials in Syria said earlier on Thursday the death toll in government-controlled areas stands at 1,262, while 1,930 have been reported dead in rebel-held areas in the north-west of the country by the White Helmets civil defence group.

A total of 5,158 people have been reported injured across both government-controlled and rebel-held Syria. Erdoğan said 64,194 people had been reported injured in Turkey.

Experts have said the toll of both dead and injured is expected to continue to rise sharply in the coming days.-The Guardian