Aid workers say Syria faces a “nightmare scenario”, with nearly 5 million people likely to be homeless after Monday’s earthquake.

Aid workers in Syria say that Syria’s recovery efforts will take longer than those in Turkey, as the country is already suffering from the effects of more than 10 years of war.

After the Monday 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey on Monday, and multiple aftershocks, at least 24,596 people were confirmed dead in Syria.

Jeremy Smith, the British Red Cross’ Middle East & North Africa Country Manager, stated that this was a very bad scenario in Syria. This is a terrible scenario.

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Because of Turkey’s already poor infrastructure in terms of water, sanitation, and medical care, Smith stated that the recovery process will take longer than expected due to war-related challenges. He also said that the time frame for the Turkey reconstruction efforts would be “probably much faster”.

This comes amid warnings by UN Refugee Agency, which stated Friday that earthquake may leave nearly five-and-half million people homeless.

According to the latest official figures, at least 2,166 people were killed in opposition-held Northwest and another 1,387 in government areas.

Sky’s Alex Crawford visited Idlib in the northwestern region of Syria, which is one of the most affected areas of the country and the last city that isn’t under President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

While assistance from all over the globe has flowed into Turkey, there have been stark differences in the offers for Syria.

The country has been ravaged by civil war for years and the condemnation of its ruling regim’s treatment of its citizens, making it difficult to get aid in.

Access to northern Syria is likely to be difficult for aid agencies, as it is a large part controlled by rebel groups that have been fighting the regime.

The White Helmets’ emergency volunteer group leader has criticised UN’s response to Syria. He said that rebel-held areas have not received any UN aid since the earthquake. He also claimed that six trucks crossed into Syria on Thursday as part of a regular shipment that was delayed.

Due to road damage, the Bab-al-Hawa crossing was temporarily closed following the earthquake. This is a humanitarian aid corridor which allows you to enter the rebel-held areas from Syria.

Although the UN is not authorized to send aid into Syria via other border crossings, a UN Security Council resolution states that it is allowed to do so. However, the UN Security Council is expected to decide next week whether to allow the UN to aid rebel-held parts of Syria through more than one Turkish border crossing.

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According to state media, President Assad visited Aleppo’s hospital on Friday for the first time since the earthquake.

The UN announced Friday a $25m (PS20m), grant to people in Syria’s earthquake-stricken regions. This is in addition of the $25m grant that was announced earlier in the week for emergency operations in Turkey and Syria.