'Don't give up hope': Rescued quake victims become beacons of hope in quake-hit parts of Türkiye

ANKARA

Rescued after enduring 64 hours in the freezing cold, 24-year-old Dogan Akkok never fell into despair while trapped under the debris of a collapsed building near the epicenter of Monday's earthquakes in Türkiye, writing the words, "Don't give up hope," on the surrounding rubble.

Firefighters from the Antalya province working to rescue those trapped in the Kahramanmaras province's Dulkadiroglu district – near the Pazarcik district where the first of two destructive earthquakes was centered – constantly reassured the young man as they pulled the bricks and cement away to get him out.

Another miracle rescue came as a 7-month-old baby was pulled out 66 hours after the devastating quakes, this time in the southern province of Hatay. Dispatched from the southeastern Hakkari province, a National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE) pulled the baby out alive from under the rubble of a collapsed building in the Odabasi neighborhood.

As rescue teams from around the world rushed to the quake-hit region, an Indonesian disaster crew and firefighters from the northwestern Kocaeli province pulled a boy named Yusuf Elmaruf from under the rubble late on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Kocaeli Municipality.

Meanwhile, an 11-year-old boy who was stranded in the rubble of a collapsed building in Adiyaman for 66 hours was rescued by Türkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) and paramedics after a six-hour effort.

Berke Daglarasar's family members, who were caught in the rubble of the same building in the Turgut Reis neighborhood, were among the thousands who died in the quake. Daglarasar's question to his uncle about his parents' whereabouts made everyone burst into tears.

More good news

But more good news came from the province after search and rescue teams heard a noise from the debris of a five-story building on Sakarya Street. The rescue teams pulled out Ayse Atceken and her daughters Emine and Feyza alive from the rubble 65 hours after the quake.

In the southernmost Hatay province, disaster teams rescued Saziye Kalagzi, 80, in another ray of hope in the grim aftermath of the earthquakes. The teams rescued the elderly woman who survived under the rubble for 68 hours after hearing her cry for help.

A National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE) from the southeastern Hakkari province early Thursday rescued two foreign nationals, including a child, from the wreckage of a building in the Hatay province 67 hours after the devastating quakes.

Another foreign national, a 48-year-old woman, was pulled alive from under the rubble of a collapsed building in the southern Hatay province.

Search and rescue teams dispatched from the western Balikesir province heard a noise from the debris of a collapsed building in the Antakya district. After vigorous efforts, the teams rescued the woman from the debris after she was stranded for 68 hours.

After the rescue, the crew shared their happiness by hugging each other.

Speaking to Anadolu, Kadir Akbulut, head of the rescue team, said: “We came to the region with 14 of my friends. I think some of us didn’t sleep at all.”

Meanwhile, a university student in the Adiyaman province was pulled out alive from under the rubble of a collapsed building by a 35-member rescue team 69 hours after the quake. Ilayda, 21, has been studying dentistry, it was later learned.

After the team heard a voice from the debris of a collapsed building, a rescue team from the central Corum province pulled six live quake victims, including three children, from under the rubble in Hatay’s Kirikhan district.

Nearly 70 hours after the quake, 45-year-old Duran Seker was rescued from the wreckage of a collapsed building in Ismet Pasa in the Kahramanmaras province, the epicenter of two powerful quakes that jolted the country and the region on Monday.

In the same province, another miracle came with the efforts of rescue teams 72 hours after the quake in the region. Ismail Altinok, 72, was rescued by teams in Sazibey from the northwestern Bursa province.

South Korean rescue team and volunteers pulled Syrian national Abdusselam Alsavas, 11 alive from the wreckage of a collapsed 5-story building 73 hours after the quake hit the region. The team heard a voice and intensified their efforts to rescue victims under the rubble.

The South Korean crew reached the boy by opening a corridor through the voices, and covered his face so that he would not be affected by the sun, and putting clothes on him to maintain his body temperature.

In Diyarbakir province, the teams rescued eight years old Besir Yildiz from the wreckage of a collapsed building in Baglar District after 81 hours.

At least 16,170 people were killed and 64,194 others injured by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Monday, the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, were felt by 13 million people across 10 provinces, also including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

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

*Writing by Burak Dag