The official death toll from deadly earthquakes in southern Turkey and northern Syria has now passed the 50,000 mark, 17 days after the main 7.8 earthquake.

The latest figures from the two countries put the total confirmed death toll from the series of catastrophic earthquakes centered on Kahramanmaras at 50,303.

On Wednesday evening, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu reported 43,556 deaths in Turkey.

Speaking to state broadcaster TRT Haber, Mr. Soylu added that 7,930 aftershocks had been recorded since the first strong earthquake of magnitude 7.8. In addition, more than 600,000 houses and apartments and 150,000 shops and jobs suffered at least moderate damage.

Especially in the epicenter of the first earthquake, and a little later, the second, with a magnitude of 7.7 points, 75-80% of the buildings of Kahramanmaras were destroyed.

At the same time, the death toll in Syria has reached 6,747 according to the latest cross-references. This is 2226 people in areas controlled by the Assad regime, and 4521 people in areas controlled by the Syrian rebels.

However, fears are openly expressed in the UN and non-governmental organizations that the real death toll from earthquakes exceeds 100,000, as it is estimated that tens of thousands more people were crushed under the ruins of buildings, which will continue to collapse. will be revealed as the wreckage evacuation process continues in both Turkey and Syria.

Source: APE-MPE, TRT, Syria HR.