Winter chill kills 15 displaced Syria children

BEIRUT, Jan 15 (AFP): Freezing temperatures and the lack of medical care have killed at least 15 displaced Syrian children in recent weeks, the United Nations reported on Tuesday.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said eight of them had died as a result of the cold in the Rukban camp in southeastern Syria and seven others during the displacement from the jihadist bastion of Hajin, further north.

"Freezing temperatures and harsh living conditions in Rukban… are increasingly putting children's lives at risk," UNICEF regional director Geert Cappelaere said.

"In just one month, at least eight children - most of them under four months and the youngest only one hour old - have died," he said.