Syrian refugees may double or triple this year: UN official

London: The United Nations has warmed that the number of refugees from Syria may double or even triple this year if the two-year-old bloody uprising does not end.

UN`s refugee chief Antonio Guterres warned of the "risk of an explosion" across the Middle East if the crisis continued much longer.

Guterres told reporters in Ankara that if the no decision is taken to end the Syrian crisis then there would be a much larger number of refugees-twice or three times the present level, the BBC reports.

According to the report, the UN believes that as many as 70,000 people have died in the two-year conflict.

Over a million Syrians have now been registered as refugees by the UN in neighbouring countries.

(ANI)