With two separate death tallies in a divided country, Syrian health officials says the actual number of casualties may be much higher than reported as some bodies were buried immediately after rescue with no registration
The reported death toll in Syria most likely crossed 3,600 on Monday following last week's massive magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes that devastated neighboring Türkiye.
However, the actual number of casualties could be far greater than figures reported by the Syrian state media and the Syrian Civil Defense sources, as the country remains divided among factions due to the decadelong civil war.
Across the border, Turkish media sources reported over 4,500 dead in opposition-held northwestern Syria and in the areas under the Bashar Assad regime’s control.
Speaking to Daily Sabah, the director of the Atareb City hospital in western Aleppo, Omar Hallaq said the number of deaths may be far greater than these official figures.
"People buried dozens of victims immediately after they were pulled from under the rubble, without transferring or registering them with a hospital or medical center," he said.
Nongovernmental organizations, civil bodies and local councils were working tirelessly to come up with accurate statistics on death and injury caused by the earthquake. This, however, may take a long time given a large number of collapsed buildings.
The Syrian Civil Defense, better known as the White Helmets, announced Sunday that the death toll in northwestern Syria had climbed to 2,167, with over 3,000 injured.
It added that over 550 buildings were completely destroyed in the region, while the number of severely damaged buildings stood at 1,578.
The largest death toll was recorded in the city of Jenderes in the Afrin region at 513, followed by the city of Harem with about 360. They were followed by the city of Salqin with 221 deaths, Armanaz with 155 and Atarib with 150 death. The town of Azmarin saw 140 deaths.
On the other hand, the death toll in regime-controlled areas of Aleppo alone has reached 390 and 750 injuries, while the number of collapsed buildings has reached 54, according to what the Syrian regime-controlled news agency SANA.
The director of Jableh Hospital, Dr. Qusai Khalil, said: "the death toll from the earthquake in Jableh reached, as of Sunday, 292 deaths and 179 injured."
In the meanwhile, the administration of the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between northwestern Syria and Türkiye announced that it had received nearly 1,200 bodies of Syrians who died in the earthquake in southern Türkiye.
They came to the crossing from the several Turkish cities hit by the earthquake, but mostly from Hatay.
Over 31,643 people have now died in the powerful earthquakes, Türkiye Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) announced Monday.