At least 1,932 killed in Syria following deadly earthquakes

BEIRUT (Reuters) – At least 1,932 people were killed and thousands injured in Syria following a number of deadly earthquakes and aftershocks in neighbouring Turkey, authorities and rescuers said on Tuesday.

State news agency SANA said at least 812 people were killed and 1,449 people injured in the government-held provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Idlib and Tartous.

At least 1,120 people were killed in Syria’s opposition-held northwest and 2,500 injured with the toll expected to “rise dramatically,” rescuers in the region said.

A magnitude 7.8 quake hit Turkey and Syria early on Monday, toppling thousands of buildings, including many apartment blocks, wrecking hospitals, and leaving thousands of people injured or homeless.

(Reporting by Hatem Maher and Nayera Abdallah in Cairo and Timour Azhari in Beirut, Editing Frank Jack Daniel, and William Maclean)