Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited a hospital in Aleppo (northwest) this Friday, in his first public initiative since Monday’s earthquakes that left more than 21,000 dead in Syria and neighboring Turkey.
Together with his wife, Asma al-Assad, the Syrian leader went to the University Hospital of Aleppo, in the city that serves as the capital of the province of the same name and was badly hit by the earthquakes. social network Twitter.
Al-Assad had not appeared in public since the earthquakes, nor had he given a speech in the country, which has been at war since 2011.
The earthquakes, with their epicenter in southern Turkey, caused 3,377 deaths in Syria and 17,674 in neighboring Turkish regions, according to the preliminary count released today.
Authorities and rescue teams admit that the number of fatalities will continue to rise as debris is removed from the many collapsed buildings.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said 23 million people are “potentially at risk, including about five million vulnerable people”.
The WHO said it feared a major health crisis that could cause even more damage than earthquakes, according to the French agency AFP.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday.
It was followed by several aftershocks and another 7.5-magnitude earthquake, which experts said was a result of the first.
The first quake created built-up stress that was then transferred to a nearby fault, resulting in a second quake nine hours later, scientists told The Wall Street Journal.
Based on their timing and proximity, the two earthquakes are considered part of the same seismic event, which occurred at the intersection of three tectonic plates.
Source: DN
