Turkey: Multiple buildings damaged after earthquake in Hatay
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Earthquake rescue teams have extracted a young girl from the rubble after she spent more than a week trapped in a collapsed building. Hivay User was scooped from ruins in Adiyamkan 178 hours after the tremors destroyed her home, with rescuers chanting “God is great” as she emerged dressed in the pyjamas she was wearing on February 6. Hers was one of many last-minute rescues made this week as the death count climbs and search and retrieval operations wind to a close.
Another unnamed teenager was rescued after he spent 182 hours – seven-and-a-half days – trapped in debris in Turkey.
A video captured the cheering crowd of rescue workers as they loaded the boy onto a stretcher.
Rescuers also reached people as their time spent in the rubble brushed the 200-hour mark.
In the early hours of February 14, Turkish workers discovered a boy and man buried in Kahramanmaras at the earthquake’s epicentre.
The two were successfully removed from a collapsed building 198 hours after they became trapped.
The Reuters news agency reported that rescuers were attempting to reach more people in the early hours of Tuesday.
A grandmother, mother and daughter from the same family appeared to have survived the initial tremors in another part of Kahramanmaras.
Rescuers told the agency they believed the trio were in “good condition” despite spending more than a week without access to food and water.
Burcu Baldauf, head of the Turkish voluntary healthcare team, said she was convinced her teams could retrieve them.
She said: “I have a very strong feeling we are going to get them.
“It’s already a miracle. After seven days, they are there with no water, no food and in good condition.”
Turkish news reports have said that rescue crews have continued to hold out hope that they can reach additional survivors.
Crews remain elsewhere in Kahramanmaras province, with others working in hard-hit Adiyaman and Hatay.
Across the border in Syria’s northwest, the country’s main rescue agency is preparing to wind down operations.
Syria Civil Defence – otherwise known as the White Helmets – has taken charge of the rescue operations in the nation’s rebel-held areas.
Personnel with the organisation have successfully rescued hundreds of people since February 6 and have continued to extract people from the rubble this week.
But White Helmets chiefs have said hopes are running low for finding additional survivors.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Raed al Saleh said the group’s rescue efforts are “about to come to a close”.
He said: “The indications we have are that there are not any (survivors) but we are trying to do our final checks.”
United Nations (UN) personnel have made similar statements as officials concentrate on aiding survivors.
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