The death toll from Monday’s massive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has passed 22,000 as pressure mounts on the United Nations to provide urgent aid to northwestern Syria, which was already in dire need of humanitarian assistance due to 12 years of civil war and international sanctions. Aid groups have escalated demands on Turkey’s government to allow in more cross-border aid and are warning of a “secondary disaster” amid worsening conditions in rebel-held areas of northern Syria.

Meanwhile, authorities in the hardest-hit regions of Turkey have begun burying the dead in mass graves. This is a survivor in the town of Pazarcik, near the epicenter of one of Monday’s two largest quakes.

Huseyin Pekerel: “The gravity of the event is very deplorable, Doomsday itself. There are thousands of injured and dead. You see, these are graves that are being newly opened. We’ve already started to bury people here. Believe me, there’s no family left without pain. Most people don’t even know what to do. We don’t know what will happen.”