Türkiye and Syria earthquake death toll passes 50,000
The death toll from a devastating series of earthquakes that struck Türkiye and Syria this month has passed 50,000.
The milestone was confirmed as thousands of Syrian refugees who had fled years of war returned to Syria from earthquake-hit cities in Türkiye. Turkish authorities said 18,000 Syrian migrants returned to their country this month. Many claimed they came to Türkiye, which is home to more than three-and-a-half million Syrian refugees, to escape the civil war, but the earthquakes were even more frightening than the conflict. According to government estimates, more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees lived in the 10 southern Turkish provinces devastated by this month’s earthquakes.
