Red Cross chief warns of health crisis in quake-hit Syria

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — The Red Cross’ global chief says Syria could face dangerous outbreaks of disease in the wake of last week’s devastating earthquake if hundreds of thousands of displaced people do not get permanent housing soon. The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Jagan Chapagain told The Associated Press Thursday after visiting Aleppo that mass makeshift shelters posed a danger to staving off winter cold and the spread of diseases. Aleppo was already hit with a cholera outbreak in late 2022, and the earthquake’s impact on infrastructure makes another outbreak “possible.” The 7.8 magnitude quake rocked Turkey and war-torn northern Syria. An estimated 3,688 people died across Syria.