The combined number of deaths in Turkey and Syria currently stands at more than 40,000. The confirmed death toll in Syria is 4,574. That number includes more than 3,160 in opposition-controlled parts of northwestern Syria, according to the Health Ministry of the Salvation Government’s governing authority.
The situation in Syria is totally different from that in Turkey, where dozens of countries and international organizations have offered rescue teams, donations and aid. The delivery of urgent supplies to earthquake-affected areas in northern Syria has been complicated by a long-running civil war between opposition forces and the Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, accused of killing his own people.
Little significant international aid has reached the enclave and doctors have felt helpless.
“This is the biggest disaster we’ve ever had,” Dr. Ahmad Alaabd told CNN during a visit to the Babs Al Hawa hospital, run by the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), this weekend. “We deal with war wounds, but we’ve never been faced with dealing with so many casualties.”
