The Turkish Federation of Doctors, TTB, casts doubt on the official figures of the death toll in the earthquakes that have occurred in Turkey. It plans to check the number of funerals in the municipalities in March in order to cross-check the government figures.
“We have our doubts about these numbers“, declares Vedat Bulut on behalf of this federation.”When, for example, 6,000 dead have been recorded in Kahramanmaras, the funerals of 11,000 people are nevertheless recorded there.“It is possible that the official figures are too low, or that the families of victims brought their remains to Kahramanmaras for burial.
Two strong earthquakes (6.4 and 5.8) again shook northern Syria and the Turkish province of Hatay (south) on Monday evening, the most affected by the February 6 earthquake which did more of 45,000 dead in the two countries, including about 41,000 in Turkey. Mr. Bulut, for his part, estimates that the death toll is closer to 60,000, “but this is currently not an objective estimate. We will have to collect the funeral figures from the municipalities, and then it will be clearer“, he explains.