At least 29 children are reported to have died in an overcrowded refugee camp in northeastern Syria over the last two months, mostly from hypothermia, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

Around 23,000 people have arrived at al-Hol camp after fleeing fighting in Deir ez-Zor between Isis and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, led by the Kurdish YPG militia.

The influx has swelled the population of the camp, which is unheated and has a shortage of health care services, tents and sanitation facilities.

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“The situation in al-Hol camp is heartbreaking. Children are dying from hypothermia as their families flee to safety,” Elizabeth Hoff, WHO representative in Syria, said in a statement on Thursday.

The United Nations agency appealed for unhindered access to the camp, saying the situation had become “critical” for 33,000 people, mainly women and children, who now live there in bitterly cold winter weather.

Shape Created with Sketch. Syria at war: Fleeing the caliphate

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Many of those who had been displaced by the fighting walked or travelled in open trucks for days, arriving malnourished and exhausted “following years of deprivation” living under the control of Isis, it said.

“Thousands of new arrivals have been forced to spend several nights in the camp’s open-air reception and screening areas, without tents, blankets or heating,” the WHO added.

WHO-supported teams are working around the clock in the camp to screen new arrivals, support vaccination and refer severely malnourished children to a hospital in al-Hasakah, it said.

Snow blankets Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon

“Humanitarian access to the camp and surrounding roads is hampered by bureaucratic obstacles and security constraints,” it added, appealing to all parties to provide unhindered access for to people needing life-saving aid.

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