Death toll hits 33,000 in Turkey, Syria quake

The death toll from a catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria climbed to 33,000 on Sunday, with the United Nations warning that the final number may double.

Officials and medics said 29,605 people had died in Turkey and 3,574 in Syria from Monday‍‍`s 7.8-magnitude tremor, bringing the confirmed total to 33,179.

Meanwhile, the United Nations denounced Sunday the failure to deliver desperately needed aid to war-torn regions of Syria.

A UN convoy with supplies for northwest Syria arrived via Turkey, but the agency‍‍`s relief chief Martin Griffiths said much more was needed for millions whose homes were destroyed.

"We have so far failed the people in northwest Syria. They rightly feel abandoned. Looking for international help that hasn‍‍`t arrived," Griffiths said on Twitter.

Assessing the damage in southern Turkey on Saturday, when the toll stood at 28,000, Griffiths had told Sky News he expected the death toll to "double or more" as chances of finding survivors fade with every passing day.

Supplies have been slow to arrive in Syria, where years of conflict have ravaged the healthcare system, and parts of the country remain under the control of rebels battling the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which is under Western sanctions.

A 10-truck UN convoy crossed into northwest Syria via the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, according to an AFP correspondent, carrying shelter kits including plastic sheeting, ropes and screws and nails, as well as blankets, mattresses and carpets.

Bab al-Hawa is the only point for international aid to reach people in rebel-held areas of Syria after nearly 12 years of civil war, after other crossings were closed under pressure from China and Russia.

The World Health Organization chief met Assad in Damascus on Sunday and said the Syrian leader had voiced readiness for more border crossings to help bring aid into the rebel-held northwest.

"He was open to considering additional cross-border access points for this emergency," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

Set politics aside

Assad said he looked forward to further "efficient cooperation" with the UN agency to improve the shortage in supplies, equipment and medicines, his presidency said.

UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, was also in Damascus on Sunday carrying a message to set aside politics.

"We are mobilising funding and we are trying to tell everyone to put politics aside," he said.

"This is a time to unite behind a common effort to support the Syrian people."

Assad had also thanked the United Arab Emirates for providing "huge relief and humanitarian aid" with pledges of tens of millions of dollars in aid as well.

But security concerns prompted the suspension of some rescue operations, and dozens of people have been arrested for looting or trying to defraud victims in the aftermath of the quake in Turkey, according to state media.

An Israeli emergency relief organisation said Sunday it had suspended its earthquake rescue operation in Turkey and returned home because of a "significant" security threat to its staff.