UN aid chief: Turkiye-Syria earthquake death toll expected to more than double

The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkiye and Syria is likely to more than double, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told Sky News.

More than 29,000 people are known to have died after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on February 6, with multiple aftershocks.

Griffiths said he expected tens of thousands more deaths to be confirmed.

Griffiths, the UN's emergency relief coordinator, said: "I think it is difficult to estimate precisely as we need to get under the rubble but I'm sure it will double or more.

"That's terrifying. This is nature striking back in a really harsh way."

He added: "It's deeply shocking... the idea that these mountains of rubble still hold people, some of them still alive.

"We haven't really begun to count the number of dead."

With hopes fading for those trapped under wreckage in Turkiye and Syria, Griffiths said rescue efforts were now in their final stages.

"They say 72 hours is the golden period (for rescues)," he said.

"But just now they have pulled out someone alive an hour two ago. It must be incredibly difficult to decide when to stop this rescue phase and move into the next phase which is also going to have its problems."

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