Rescuers with a woman they rescued from the rubble of a building collapsed during an earthquake in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, February 9, 2023.
Ankara – Even four days after the catastrophic earthquake, they discover Turkish rescuers survivors under the rubble of collapsed houses. Despite the persistent sub-freezing temperatures, the sounds of trapped people desperately calling for help can still be heard, DPA reported, citing Turkish media. The number of victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria exceeded 21,000.
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Photo gallery: Earthquake in Turkey and Syria
In Kahramanmaraş province, a mother and daughter were rescued after 92 hours of earthquakes, according to Anadolu Agency. Earlier, a five-year-old girl, Mina, was pulled alive from the rubble in the same area. “I'm so happy we found her,” said one of her rescuers. Two-year-old Fatima was rescued in Hatay province 88 hours after the earthquake.
“We will continue until we are sure that no one has survived,” TRT World quoted a rescue service spokesman as saying.
Meanwhile, the number of bodies found in Turkey continues to rise. According to Vice President Fuat Oktay, the current death toll is 17,664. The Turkish authorities registered 72,879 injured this morning. In neighboring Syria, where the devastating earthquake also struck, more than 3,377 people have been found dead so far. The final number is expected to be significantly higher.
Oktay thanked all the rescuers and said that 75 countries had sent their teams to Turkey.
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the Turkey-Syria border region early Monday morning, causing massive damage. On the same afternoon, another earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 followed in the same area.
Czech rescuers rescued 12 victims of the earthquake at night, a total of 20
Czech rescuers in the Turkish city of Adiyaman at night today they rescued 12 more victims of Monday's earthquake from collapsed residential buildings. So far, they have recovered 20 bodies from the wreckage, including 11 children. They are also helping other rescue teams to find places where people could have been left alive in the rubble. Jakub Kozák, spokesman for the Czech fire department, told journalists.
Members of the Czech USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) team specialized in searching for people in the rubble began searching two buildings with an area of approximately 40 by 40 meters in Adiyaman on Tuesday evening. Kozák had previously stated that one building had floors collapsed on top of itself, the other had collapsed.
“In total, we have already rescued 20 victims from the collapsed buildings, 11 of which were children. Our rapid search group with canines and marked the location with the possibility of survivors in several places with a slit camera, colleagues from other USAR teams in the area are working on the rescue,” said Kozák. The spokesman informed on Thursday about the creation of a small group helping other rescuers. According to him, teams from Algeria, Taiwan, Pakistan and Armenia also have bases in Adiyaman.
The Czech USAR team abroad helped in the past, for example, in Beirut, Lebanon in 2020 after an explosion in the port, which claimed a life two hundred people and injured another 6,000. In the Czech team at that time, together with firefighters, there were cynologists with dogs, a structural engineer and a doctor.
