UN official warns of rising earthquake death toll in Syria

By OMAR AKOUR
Associated Press

AMMAN (AP) — A United Nations official says the death toll from the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake is likely to rise as teams scramble to remove rubble in hard-hit areas. UN regional humanitarian coordinator Muhannad Hadi told The Associated Press Thursday that the world body has “done everything we can from the very beginning.” He defended the U.N.’s response to the disaster, which many in Syria have criticized as slow and inadequate. Hadi said the UN urged “everybody to de-politicize the humanitarian situation and focus on supporting us to reach the people.” The U.N. has reported a death toll of 6,000 for all of Syria. That figure is higher than those reported by government authorities in Damascus and civil defense officials in the northwest.