At least 245 dead in Syria after Turkey earthquake

MENA

Published: 2023-02-06 10:26

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 15:11


At least 245 dead in Syria after Turkey earthquake
At least 245 dead in Syria after Turkey earthquake

At least 245 people were killed in Syria on Monday as buildings collapsed after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that had its epicenter in neighboring Turkey, state media and a medical source said.

More than 230 people were killed and over 600 injured in Syria, the health ministry said, while a hospital told AFP that eight others were killed in northern areas controlled by pro-Turkish factions.

"Six hundred and thirty-nine people were injured and 237 were killed in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, and Tartus," the Syrian health ministry said in a statement.

Rescuers rushed to search for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings in the pouring winter rain.

In Aleppo alone, 24 people had died and 100 were injured when 20 buildings collapsed in the province, the official news agency SANA said, quoting an official in the province.

SANA said the earthquake was felt from the western coast of Latakia to Damascus.

"This earthquake is the strongest since the National Earthquake Centre was founded in 1995," Raed Ahmed, who heads the center, told SANA.