"Time is running out to save hundreds of stranded people." The number of victims of the earthquakes in Syria reaches 1,602

The death toll across Syria (regime and opposition areas) has risen to about 1,602 dead and 3,649 injured, after a series of strong earthquakes hit cities in northern Syria and southern Turkey.

The death toll across Syria (regime and opposition areas) has reached 1,602 dead and 3,649 injured, as a result of the earthquake that occurred at dawn on Monday, with its epicenter in southern Turkey.

The Syrian Ministry of Health announced that the death toll has risen to 812 dead and 1,449 wounded in regime-controlled areas. The White Helmets organization operating in the northern areas outside the control of Damascus (Civil Defense Volunteers) reported that 790 people were killed and more than 2,200 were injured.

The Syrian opposition government declared northwestern Syria a disaster area, and the director of the Syrian Civil Defense appealed to the world to expedite the provision of aid.

The Syrian Civil Defense said that hundreds of families are still under the rubble, and that its teams are facing difficulties in search and rescue operations due to a lack of equipment.

In a tweet, he appealed to all humanitarian organizations and international bodies to provide material support and help organizations that respond to this disaster and help earthquake victims urgently.

In another video, the Syrian Civil Defense explained that "the situation is catastrophic, and hundreds of trapped people are trapped under the rubble." It added: "Our teams are working with all their energies continuously after the earthquakes, but the disaster and the number of collapsed buildings are large and time is running out to save the trapped."

Earlier Tuesday, WHO emergency officer Adelheid Marchan said that Turkey "has a strong capacity to respond to the crisis," but the current challenge lies in meeting the needs on the Syrian-Turkish border.

He explained that the Syrian-Turkish border region "has already been facing a humanitarian crisis for years, due to the civil war and the outbreak of cholera."

Several Western countries, including the United States, Germany and France, have promised to provide assistance to Syria, without yet taking practical steps in this regard.

"The country is still an unclear area from a legal and diplomatic point of view," said Marc Chakal, MSF's Syria Program Officer, stressing the need to send aid "as quickly as possible."

In a separate context, the Syrian Civil Defense warned today, Tuesday, of a rise in the water level of the Orontes River, west of Idlib, and called on residents to exercise caution and move away from the course of the river.

And the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), through its head, Yunus Sezer, announced that the death toll from the earthquakes that struck the south of the country has risen to 3,703, while the number of injured has reached 22,286.

It added that 145 aftershocks occurred in the aftermath of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake, centered in Kahramanmaraş in southern Turkey, which led to the collapse of 3,471 buildings.