This Tuesday again, more than 200 hours after the onset of the tremors, survivors were miraculously pulled out of the rubble.
More than a week after the devastating earthquake and its many aftershocks that shook southern Turkey and Syria, the hope of finding survivors is dwindling. The crucial 72-hour milestone has long since passed, and the number of victims continues to rise. According to the latest provisional report, more than 36,000 people have died. But according to the association Turkonfed, the number of victims could actually exceed 72,000.
And yet, in the Turkish media, stories of survivor rescues continue on Tuesday, February 14, more than 200 hours after the first tremors hit.
Several rescues on Tuesday
According the Turkish branch of the CNN channel, Turkish rescue workers continue to hear voices under the rubble, especially in the city of Kahramanmaraş, in southern Turkey. They are trying to help three sisters, who are potentially still alive, says on his site CNN.
The Istanbul newspaper Hurriyet maintains a list of successful rescue operations on its website. Thus, early this Tuesday, two brothers were rescued from the rubble of their building in Kahramanmaraş.
Abdulbaki Enes and his brother Muhammet were located after the latter’s voice was heard by rescuers. For nearly five hours, Turkish and foreign rescuers mobilized to extract the two young men. Footage of their rescue was shared on Twitter by Turkey’s Ministry of National Defence.
A couple of miracles
A little later in the morning, an 18-year-old young man was rescued, according to Hurriyet and the national Anadolu news agency. Again, it was his voice that allowed rescuers to dig a tunnel to extract him from the rubble. The operation took place in Adıyaman, north of the border with Syria.
This afternoon, when the milestone of 200 hours after the first tremors was exceeded, social networks again echoed miraculously carried out rescue operations. In the province of Hatay, a woman was rescued. An hour later, a 26-year-old man was pulled from the debris in Antakya.
A couple was also able to be saved this afternoon. Hurriyet says Hidayet Polat and his wife Muharrem, 24 and 32, were pulled from the ruins of their building in Karaman district. Again, a corridor in the rubble was dug.
Housing and feeding the victims
These miracle victims are in addition to the tens of thousands of people to be cared for by the authorities, who must provide them with temporary shelter, food and water. Turkish authorities have dismissed accusations of shortages.
Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay assured that there was “no problem feeding the survivors and that “millions of blankets are sent everywhere”.
The Ankara government said 1.2 million people had been housed in student residences, and 206,000 tents had been pitched. According to the World Health Organization, the earthquakes that hit the area are “the biggest natural disaster in a century” in Europe.
