Rescue workers in the city of Hatay in the south of Turkey have on Saturday entered the ruins where a family of five had been buried after the earthquake on the night of Monday almost two weeks ago.
For 296 hours – more than twelve days – mother and father lay together with their one surviving child. An older sister and a twin died earlier.
On Saturday, the three were taken out by a Kyrgyz team of rescue workers.
– Mashallah, say several of them. The expression means “what God has willed”, and is used to show gratitude.
Watch the powerful video at the top of the story.
DESTRUCTION: This is what it looks like in Hatay, Turkey, 12 days after the earthquake. Photo: REUTERS/Suhaib Salem
The father of the Syrian family is pulled forward from the narrow crack, and tells the rescue workers how many people had been inside the building, video from the rescue work shows.
Then they drag him out, and put him on a stretcher. Then they get the child out, and finally the man’s wife.
Ten ambulances are on standby where the rescue teams are digging.
A short time later, the news comes that the child has died in hospital. The cause of death is dehydration.
On Saturday, the death toll in the powerful earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria rose above 45,000.
The number is still expected to rise. Around 264,000 flats and homes were destroyed in the earthquake, and many people are still missing.
