On February 11, the fifth day after the 7.8- and 7.7-magnitude earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, the latest death figures were released, confirming that more than 25,000 people had been killed and tens of thousands more injured.
But Martin Griffiths, the United Nations emergency relief coordinator (pictured of the white-haired man), made a more pessimistic prediction in an interview.
"I think it's hard to estimate exactly [how many people died] because quite a few are still under the rubble, but I believe this will double or more." This is nature fighting back in a very harsh way." Griffith then added: "We haven't really started counting the death toll yet."
The World Health Organization said on the 11th that nearly 26 million people were affected by the deadly earthquake, and dozens of hospitals were damaged and could no longer be used.
WHO has allocated US$16 million (RMB110 million) from its emergency fund, but has added an additional US$10 million as the number of people affected continues to rise, including US$15 million for Turkey and US$11 million for Syria.
At the same time, a large number of relief supplies have also arrived in Turkey and Syria, but according to the Daily Mail, war-torn Syria has received relatively little aid.
Griffith also singled out Syria, saying that "90 percent of Syrians live in poverty, and years of civil war have made it harder for the country to cope with this disaster."
And because too many people died at one time, it was difficult for the victims to be buried with dignity. This is a scene taken in Turkey's Hatay province, where several engineering vehicles are working to dig graves.
A stone tablet with only numbers was erected in each place, apparently to facilitate the "visit" of his family, if any.
And even for survivors, the future is full of hardships. It is reported that 5 million people are considered "particularly vulnerable", of whom about 350,000 are elderly and more than 1.4 million children.
Their living conditions are worrying, and the most basic food and clothing may not be satisfied.
Although it has been five days since the earthquake and the possibility of finding life is becoming increasingly remote, rescue teams from various countries have not given up and are still searching hard.
And "miracles" will really happen, although not much. After being trapped for 132 hours, a woman in her 20s named Melisa Ulku was rescued from the rubble of Erbistan, Turkey. Just one hour earlier, a 3-year-old girl and her father had also been rescued from the rubble of the town of Esrahvi in Gaziantep province.
Steve Davies, 51, was one of 77 experts sent by Britain's international search and rescue team. He called the situation terrible, "it's heartbreaking, it's tough." "The saddest thing about being a rescuer is when someone begs you to go somewhere to find his family, but we know our dog has gone to see and there are no signs of life."