Syria death toll nears 3,600 as hopes for quake survivors fade
A Syrian boy, who lost his family and was also wounded in the deadly earthquake, walks amid the rubble of his family home, Jindayris, in the opposition-held part of Aleppo, Syria, Feb. 11, 2023. (AFP Photo)


The death toll in Syria was approaching 3,600 on Sunday following last week's massive magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes that devastated neighboring Türkiye.

The number of casualties is compiled from the Syrian state media and the Syrian Civil Defense sources as the country remains divided among factions due to the decadelong civil war.

The Syrian Civil Defense, better known as the White Helmets, announced Friday that the death toll in northwestern Syria had risen to 2,166, with over 3,000 injured as of Saturday.

It added that over 550 buildings were completely destroyed in the region, while the number of severely damaged buildings stood at 1,578.

"Search operations continue and bodies are recovered amid very difficult conditions 116 hours after the earthquake," the rescue service operating in the opposition-held northwest wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Syrian regime-held areas from the earthquake crossed 1,400, according to the state-run SANA news agency.

The combined death toll in Syria stood at 3,575. However, that number may climb significantly with the window to rescue survivors trapped under the rubble swiftly closing nearly a week after the quake.

The head of the White Helmets aid organization who work in opposition-held areas of Syria declared that their search and rescue mission was now "finished," dashing hopes that further survivors might be found.

"We did not rescue anyone alive anymore, that is why we moved to the second phase which is the removing of bodies from under the rubble," Raed Saleh, the head of the White Helmets told dpa.

They tweeted that they have not rescued anyone alive since Thursday.

On the regime-controlled side, however, three people were rescued from the rubble of a building in the city of Jableh, almost 110 hours after the deadly earthquake, state media reported.

Live television footage from the site showed two people being pulled from the rubble by Syrian and Lebanese rescue crews, as bystanders clapped and shouted "God is great."

A rescue worker said that two of those rescued were a woman and her child.

On Sunday, a UN convoy of ten trucks crossed from Turkey to northwest Syria, an area largely beyond the control of the central government in Damascus, via the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, according to an AFP correspondent.

The trucks were carrying shelter kits including plastic sheeting, ropes and screws and nails for tents as well blankets, mattresses and carpets.