- Death toll nears 8,000
As the death toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria jumped to more than 7,800 people, a disaster response expert said “we need to avoid overwhelming those affected with items they do not need.”
“People will try and send the most unhelpful items to scenes,” Prof Lucy Easthope told BBC World News.
“People will pile minibuses full of old jumpers and basically the stuff they’ve cleared out from their back bedroom.
“The most important, helpful thing at this moment is money. There are non-governmental organisations and charities and governmental organisations all powering-in now to help,” she said.
“What they need not just now, but for years ahead, is cash.
“It’s not from a place of trying to be difficult or trying to supress goodwill, but I can’t impress on people enough and I tweet about this a lot, how unhelpful unwanted donated items are.”
A breakdown of the figures by AFP news agency says 5,894 people died in Turkey and at least 1,932 are reported dead in Syria.
