2 Syrian refugees die of cold at Turkish border

A Syrian refugee died Monday from cold where thousands of Syrians braved the freezing cold at Turkey’s border after fleeing Assad regime assault that threatens a new humanitarian disaster, activists told Orient Net.

In a similar incident Sunday, another child died from the freezing weather, the field hospital at al-Salama border said.

Turkey’s Oncupinar border crossing, which faces Bab al-Salama inside Syria, remained closed Saturday, Agence France-Presse reported.

The United Nations said some 20,000 people had gathered at Bab al-Salama, but the governor of Turkey’s Kilis border province, Suleyman Tapsiz, said at least 70,000 may head for the frontier.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said “Turkey has reached the limit of its capacity to absorb the refugees,” he added "But in the end, these people have nowhere else to go. Either they will die beneath the bombings or we will open our borders," CNN reported.