UN: The cost of damage from the earthquake in Turkey will exceed $100 billion
The damage caused by the earthquake in Turkey will cost more than $100 billion, said Louisa Vinton of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) at a remote press conference on Tuesday.
“From the calculations made so far, it is clear that the damage costs presented by the government, supported by international partners, will exceed $100 billion,” said Vinton, who is the UNDP representative in Turkey, as quoted by Reuters.
She added that the projected figures will be presented at a donors’ conference in Brussels on March 16. Its purpose will be to raise funds for the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
More than 52,000 people died in the cataclysm that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6. people, many of them under the rubble of collapsed buildings. Previously, the World Bank estimated the cost of damage in Turkey alone at about $34.2 billion, reminds Reuters.
Vinton described the dire scenes in Turkey’s Hatay province, which was hit hardest by the country’s earthquakes, as “apocalyptic”, adding that hundreds of thousands of homes were destroyed. “The needs are great, but resources are limited,” commented the UNDP representative. (PAP)
