The death toll from the earthquake has crossed 35,000. (file)
Copenhagen, Denmark:
The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that last week’s massive earthquake, whose epicenter was in Turkey, constituted the “worst natural disaster” in the Europe region in 100 years.
Following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, a major aftershock on February 6 has now killed more than 35,000 people in Turkey and neighboring Syria.
“We are witnessing the worst natural disaster in the WHO European region for a century and we are still learning about its magnitude,” Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, told a news conference.
WHO’s European Region includes 53 countries including Turkey. Syria is a member of the WHO’s neighboring Eastern Mediterranean region.
Kluge also said the health body had launched “the largest deployment of emergency medical teams” in the 75-year history of the WHO European region.
“So far twenty-two emergency medical teams have reached Turkey,” Kluge said.
The confirmed death toll following the earthquake is 35,331, as officials and medics said 31,643 people were killed in Turkey and at least 3,688 in Syria.
The death toll in Syria has barely changed for several days and is expected to rise.
“The needs are enormous, rising every hour. Some 26 million people in both countries are in need of humanitarian assistance,” Kluge said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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