WHO chief worried about silent areas of Turkey, Syria after quake

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday it was especially concerned about areas of Turkey and Syria from which no information had emerged following a major earthquake that killed thousands.

“We’re especially concerned about areas where we do not yet have information,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the WHO’s executive board meeting in Geneva.

“Damage mapping is one way to understand where we need to focus our attention.”

Death toll in Syria

At least 1 602 people were killed and thousands injured in Syria following a number of  deadly earthquakes and aftershocks in neighbouring Turkey, authorities and rescuers said on Tuesday.

State news agency SANA said at least 812 people were killed and 1 449 people injured in the government-held provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Idlib and Tartous.

At least 790 people were killed in Syria’s opposition-held northwest and 2 200 injured with the toll expected to “rise dramatically,” the White Helmets rescue team said.

A magnitude 7.8 quake hit Turkey and neighbouring Syria early on Monday, toppling thousands of buildings including many apartment blocks, wrecking hospitals, and leaving thousands of people injured or homeless