Ambulances carrying dead continue crossing into Syria from Turkey

Syrians who died in Turkey are being laid to rest in their country following Monday's earthquake.

2 min read

10 February, 2023

Over 22,000 people have died so far from Monday's quake in Turkey and Syria [Getty]

Ambulances carrying the bodies of those who died in Monday’s powerful earthquake continued to cross the border from Turkey into Syria on Friday.

Videos shared online since Monday’s 7.8 earthquake show some bodies arriving in other vehicles also.

Not all the videos could be verified by The New Arab.

نعلمُكم أنهُ تمّ دخول القوافل للشمال المحرر.
قوافل جنازات السورين ممن قضوا نحبهُم في زلزال تركيا. نطمئنكم أن الطرقُ المؤديَّة للمعبر سالكة لنقل الجَنازَات، ولكنَّها تائهة لإدخال الأليات وفرق الانقَاذ!
تبًا لضمائِركم .#زلزال #ما_لنا_غيرك_يا_الله pic.twitter.com/fG2V7ev6hP
— Mahmoud Alsaidi (@MAHMOUD93041454) February 9, 2023

بقلوب يعتصرها الألم.. سوريون يستقبلون جثث ذويهم من ضحايا الزلزال في #تركيا عبر معبر باب الهوى الحدودي#تلفزيون_سوريا #زلزال_تركيا_سوريا #هزة_أرضية pic.twitter.com/aHt9rOwC7B
— تلفزيون سوريا (@syr_television) February 9, 2023

While it is not clear how many Syrians died in Turkey, the current death toll in Syria stands at over 4,000, in both rebel-held and regime-controlled zones.

Turkey has hosted millions of Syrians since the conflict in 2011. Many of them live in the areas hit by the quake.

The earthquake has added to an already dire situation in the country, torn apart by 12 years of conflict and suffering from its worst ever economic crisis.

Other images and videos showed mass graves being dug for the victims.

مقابر جماعية لعشرات الألاف من ضحايا وقتلى زلزال تركيا وشمال سوريا ٬ ودموع وأحزان لا تنتهي pic.twitter.com/orLItnogwm
— PIA -Press Integral Agency (@AgencyPia) February 10, 2023

Separately on Friday, the Syrian regime said it had "approved" the delivery of humanitarian aid to areas outside its control in the quake-hit rebel-held northwest of the country.

Some five million people in the rebel-held northwest province of Idlib rely on humanitarian aid but there have been no aid deliveries from regime-controlled areas in three weeks.

The first aid convoy from Turkey arrived on Thursday through the only border crossing, Bab al-Hawa.