Syrian filmmaker says he lost 13 family members in the quake

Fadi Al-Halabi, the cinematographer for the Oscar-winning short film, "The White Helmets," and the Oscar-nominated documentary, "Last Men in Aleppo," on Sunday said he lost 13 members of his family in the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, according to a post on his Facebook page. 

"My family is Gone. O God, my family died, my support and strength died. 13 moons went to heaven," Al-Halabi wrote. 

Al-Halabi co-founded the Aleppo Media Center in 2012 with several other Syrian journalists, according to the Rory Peck Trust, a London-based NGO that supports the safety of freelance journalists.

The death toll across Turkey and Syria has reached at least 34,179, with relief efforts ongoing one week after the quake struck. Those efforts in Syria have been complicated by a long-running civil war and challenges of getting aid into rebel-held areas in the north of the country.

Source: CNN