Turkey earthquake in Syria: Doctor 'thought he was going to die' as he describes horror

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Dr Osama Sallom described scenes - flattened buildings and hospitals full of bodies - in Syria that looked heartbreakingly like residents who suffered 11 years of wartime bombing< /p> Residents retrieve a small child from the rubble of a collapsed building following an earthquake (

Image: AFP via Getty Images

A doctor in fragile northwest Syria has described his death fears following Monday's earthquake that devastated the area.

Crying children, sirens and the crunch of rubble under footsteps could all be heard over the phone from the scene in Aleppo.

Dr. Sallom described scenes - flattened buildings and hospitals full of bodies - that looked heartbreakingly like residents who had endured 11 years of bombardment.

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday, flattening buildings and killing at least 3,400 people and injuring 9,622, with scores more taken trapped in the rubble.

child, rescued from the rubble, is seen in a hospital undergoing treatment in Idlib (

Picture:

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Another massive quake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck southern Turkey hours after the original quake.

The latest figures from the Turkish Disaster Management Agency show that 1,498 deaths have been recorded and in Syria two figures have been released: one for government-controlled areas and another for government-controlled areas. opposition.

Around 430 deaths have been recorded in government-controlled areas of Syria.

The Syrian Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets, confirmed around 390 deaths in opposition-held areas.

"I thought I was going to die. Last night when I heard the rumblings, I thought it was jets in the sky. I was looking for jets in the sky and I thought they were targeting buildings like before," Dr Osama Sallom, Aleppo Site Manager of the Syrian American Medical Society at the Mirror.