Damascus (Al Ittihad)
The Turkish “Anatolia” news agency said that the bodies of 1,590 Syrians who died as a result of the earthquake were transported from Turkey to their country through the “Bab Al-Hawa” border crossing between the two countries. She added that the bodies were handed over to their relatives on the Syrian side of the border crossing, and more than 6,000 Syrians crossed after the earthquake to northern Syria to bury their relatives or to stay with them after the collapse of their homes. The largest number of total deaths was recorded in the opposition-held area of northwest Syria. Thousands of Syrians who sought refuge in Turkey to escape the war in their country have returned to their homes in the war zone, at least temporarily.
In addition, paramedics and experts expressed their fears of a possible spread of infection in the area where thousands of buildings collapsed and the sanitation infrastructure was damaged.
Yesterday, Turkish Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said that despite the increase in cases of disease related to the stomach and upper respiratory tract, the numbers do not pose a serious threat to public health, adding that measures have been taken to monitor and prevent potential diseases.
