David Beasley, head of the UN World Food Program, said today that he saw images of the “Apocalypse” during his visit to earthquake-hit areas in southern Turkey.

Powerful earthquakes hit both Turkey and neighboring Syria on February 6, killing more than 50,000 people, according to the latest reports released yesterday.

“There is only one way to describe what I saw today: the Apocalypse,” Beasley said after visiting the city of Antakya in the Turkish province of Hatay.

“The goals of neighborhoods are razed to the ground, houses are destroyed, schools and shops are closed, lives are torn apart. The scale of destruction here is truly unimaginable,” he said.

The official added in a statement that the situation on the Syrian side was “catastrophe after disaster,” referring to the past 12 years of civil war.

The WFP said Beasley visited a UN logistics center where trucks are loaded with food and other essentials before heading to northwestern Syria.

He stressed the urgency of stepping up food supplies to Syria “through all channels – without any restrictions” and called on “all parties to facilitate access.”

Syria’s northwest, which is controlled by opposition groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad and whose population is already dependent on aid for basic needs, is the hardest hit region in Syria.

The increase in aid supplies is due to the opening of additional crossings from Turkey to areas held by the rebels.

One of them, Bab al-Hawa, was already in use by permission of the UN Security Council, and Assad gave permission to open two more passages for three months.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.