Ankara (EFE)
The balance of the Turkish authorities today, Friday, speaks of 18,342 dead and 72,242 injured, although it is estimated that there are still other tens of thousands of people under the rubble in the 10 provinces.
In the great earthquake of August 17, 1999, with a magnitude of 7.4 that struck a region on the outskirts of Istanbul, some 17,500 people died.
Two large earthquakes, some 10 hours apart, shook southeastern Turkey and northern Syria last Monday, leaving a total of more than 21,000 dead and tens of thousands injured in both countries.
Four people rescued four days after the earthquake
Amid so much tragedy, rescuers in Turkey managed to save four other people from the rubble early Friday morning, four days after the initial earthquake on Monday, the public Anadolu news agency reported.
A mother and her son were rescued alive in Diyarbakir, more than 100 hours after the house collapsed in the quake. Search and rescue teams reached Sebahat Varli, a 32-year-old mother, and her son Serhat, 10.
Before removing them from the rubble, the rescuers had to make some initial medical interventions before sending the two to a nearby hospital.
A few hours earlier, rescue teams managed to get two other people out alive, one in the Kahramanmaras region and the other in Hatay, in the far south of the country.
According to Anadolu, rescue teams concentrating on a voice coming out of the rubble of a three-story house in Kahramanmaras were able to rescue a 26-year-old woman of Syrian nationality.
She was brought out alive after removing rubble for 14 hours, before being sent directly to a clinic.
The fourth “miracle” of the morning took place in Hatay, where a 7-year-old girl was found alive by firefighters in a collapsed building.
According to the most recent balance of the Turkish authorities, from this morning, the number of victims already reaches 18,342 dead and 72,242 injured, although it is estimated that there are still other tens of thousands of people under the rubble.
More than 120,000 search and rescue personnel are currently working on the ground, according to the AFAD emergency and disaster management agency.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, widely criticized for failing to take action ahead of time and spending earthquake funds on highways and other major projects, said Thursday that all the collapsed houses – some 6,500 – will be rebuilt within one year.
