The death toll in Syria from a devastating earthquake has surpassed 2,600, according to Syrian state media and a rescue service operating in the opposition-held northwest.
The White Helmets rescue team said on Twitter the casualty toll in opposition-held areas has risen to more than 1,280 deaths and more than 2,600 injured.
"The number is expected to rise significantly due to the presence of hundreds of families under the rubble, more than 50 hours after the earthquake," the White Helmets wrote.
Overnight, the Syrian health minister said the number of dead in government-held parts of the country rose to 1,350, the state-run Al-Ikhbariya news outlet reported on its Telegram feed. The number of wounded was 2,054, he said.
The war-ravaged country has called on the United Nations and all member states to help with rescue efforts, health services, shelter and food aid.
The U.N. said it's "exploring all avenues" to get supplies to opposition-held northwestern Syria, and it released $25 million from its emergency fund to help kick-start the humanitarian response in Türkiye and Syria.
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the road leading to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing from Türkiye to northern Syria was damaged, temporarily disrupting aid delivery to the opposition-held areas. He said the border crossing itself "is actually intact."
Bab al-Hawa is the only crossing through which U.N. aid is allowed into the area.
Dujarric said the U.N. is preparing a convoy to cross the conflict lines within Syria. But that would likely require a new agreement with Bashar Assad's government, which has laid siege to opposition-held areas throughout the civil war.
In Türkiye, Dujarric said, Syrian refugees make up more than 1.7 million of the 15 million people inhabiting the 10 provinces impacted by the earthquake.
In Syria – including opposition-held areas – the United States Agency for International Development says humanitarian organizations that are partners of the U.S. are already providing emergency assistance to quake victims, Stephen Allen, leader of the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) disaster response team told reporters in Ankara.
Earlier Monday, strong tremors rocked Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, Latakia and Raqqa regions of Syria, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
Hundreds of buildings were also destroyed or damaged in opposition-held areas in northern Syria, where rescue teams are frantically searching for survivors.
Over 6,234 people have died so far in Türkiye in the two magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, according to Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).
According to the agency, both earthquakes originated in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş.
