Turkey-Syria Earthquake death toll tops 34,000...
On Sunday, the United Nations criticised a failure to provide urgently needed relief to Syria's war-torn areas and issued a dire warning that the already high death toll from an earthquake that also hit turkey might quadruple. Six days after two earthquakes destroyed thousands of structures, rescuers managed to free additional victims on Sunday, among them a pregnant woman and two little children.
While a UN convoy carrying supplies for northwest syria arrived via turkey, Martin Griffiths, the agency's chief of relief, warned much more was required for the millions of people whose houses had been destroyed.
"Up until now, we have failed the residents of northwest Syria.
Rightfully, they feel abandoned. Griffiths said on social media post that she was looking for foreign assistance that had not yet arrived.
Supplies have taken a long time to reach syria, where the country's healthcare system has been devastated by years of war and where rebels fighting President Bashar al-government, Assad's which is subject to Western sanctions, still hold sway in some regions.
An AFP correspondent said that a convoy of ten UN vehicles crossed the border into northwest syria at Bab al-Hawa carrying shelter kits that comprised plastic sheeting, ropes, screws, and nails in addition to blankets, mattresses, and carpets.
On Sunday, Assad praised the uae for giving "great relief and humanitarian aid" and promised to provide additional aid worth tens of millions of dollars.
