Rescue teams racing against time to save more people

KAHRAMANMARAŞ

Search and rescue efforts continued through the night in Feb. 8 to rescue more people under the rubble in the earthquake-hit provinces where a race against time is ongoing, with many earthquake victims pulled out from the debris hours after the quakes.

Carrying out search and rescue efforts in Hatay, one of the provinces most affected by the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that occurred in Kahramanmaraş, the teams moved to a region in the province upon sound coming from some wreckage.

After three hours in the area where the sound was heard, the team reached a 5-year-old girl early yesterday.

The child, who was rescued from the rubble 51 hours after the first quake, was taken to the hospital by health personnel.

At the 47th hour, a girl named Betül was also pulled out of the debris in Adıyaman.

During the four hours of rescue work, the team gave the little girl moral support saying, “Betül, everyone will applaud you soon.”

When Betül was pulled out of the rubble, people around the site applauded for minutes.

1-year-old baby rescued after 53 hours

In Şanlıurfa’s Yenişehir neighborhood, a rescue team started intensive work after a sound coming from the wreckage of a five-story building was heard.

A 1-year-old baby was rescued from the rubble of the building after 53 hours after the 7.7 magnitude quake.

The boy, whose face was covered in dust, was taken to a hospital after the first medical interventions.

As a result of the search team’s listening and sound study around the debris of a five-story building in Gaziantep, it was found that there were earthquake victims under the collapsed building.

About 40 hours after the earthquake, 1.5-year-old twin brothers were pulled out from under the rubble.

During the ongoing work in the same collapsed building, the twins’ parents were also rescued.

After the collapse of a seven-story building in the city center of Kahramanmaraş, teams mobilized to rescue Tuğçe Kalmış, who was under the rubble.

While an Israeli rescue team also participated in the efforts, Kalmış was rescued alive from the rubble approximately 45 hours after the first quake.

Father Zekeriya Kalmış, whose daughter was pulled out of the wreckage, burst into tears and thanked the Turkish and Israeli teams.

In Hatay, where miners also participated in the search and rescue efforts, a 5-year-old child, Sidra, was rescued after 35 hours by mine workers.

Woman gives birth under rubble

In Aleppo, Syria, residents digging through a collapsed building discovered a crying infant whose mother appears to have given birth to her while buried underneath the rubble.

The newborn girl’s umbilical cord was still connected to her mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, who was dead, local media reported.

The baby was the only member of her family to survive from the building collapse on Feb. 6.

The World Health Organization stated that up to 23 million people could be affected by the massive earthquake in Türkiye and Syria and urged nations to rush help to the disaster zone.