• Share
• Tweet
• Share
• Share

Young woman rescued from rubble 248 hours after earthquake in Türkiye

A 17-year-old woman was rescued on Thursday from the rubble of a building that collapsed in the southern central province of Kahramanmaraş, 248 hours after a massive earthquake struck the area this week, killing more than 40,000 people in Türkiye and Syria.

• Turkey
• Published Date: 12:28 | 16 February 2023
• Modified Date: 03:26 | 16 February 2023

Rescuers found Aleyna Olmaz, 17, alive under the rubble in the Dulkadiroğlu district of Kahramanmaraş province.

She was transferred to a hospital for medical treatment.

The young girl was pulled from the debris of a collapsed building 248 hours after an earthquake hit southern Türkiye as hopes of finding more survivors fades.

The 17-year-old was rescued in southeastern Kahramanmaraş province, broadcaster TRT Haber reported, 248 hours since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck in the dead of night on Feb. 6.

Footage showed her being carried on a stretcher to an ambulance covered with a gold-coloured thermal blanket.

"She looked to be in good health. She opened and closed her eyes," coal miner Ali Akdoğan, who took part in the rescue effort, told AFP in Kahramanmaraş, a city near the quake's epicentre.

"We have been working here in this building for a week now... We came here with the hope of hearing sounds," he said.

"We are happy whenever we find a living thing -- even a cat."

The girl's uncle tearfully hugged the rescuers one by one, saying: "We will never forget you."

At least 36,187 people were killed by the two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye last week, the country's disaster agency said on Thursday.

The Feb. 6 magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaraş province, affected more than 13 million people across 11 provinces, including Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Şanlıurfa, and Elazığ.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of fewer than 10 hours.

Türkiye's new campaign for earthquake victims, named Türkiye One Heart, raised over 115.1 billion Turkish liras ($6.1 billion) as many Turkish television and radio stations joined forces late Wednesday to hold an aid drive to help the survivors of last week's devastating earthquakes.

Companies, institutions, organizations and individuals made donations to the campaign via a joint live broadcast through 200 television and 500 radio stations.