The back-to-back rescues of six people from the ruins of the same building in the southern Hatay province 102 hours after the deadly earthquakes in southeastern Türkiye have reignited thinning hopes for finding more survivors.
The death toll across the country climbed to nearly 19,000 on Friday, with over 75,000 injured, but rescuers pulled out six people, including two women, alive from the same mound of rubble in a miraculous rescue operation spanning hours.
Crews dug out two people within minutes of each other from the wreckage of the six-story Arzu Apartment in the Iskenderun district early in the day, adding to the precious few survivors saved from the ruins of their homes on the fifth day of search and rescue operations.
As one young woman named Elif was being hauled out of towering debris, citizens waiting anxiously called out to her, “We love you, Elif! Don’t let go!”
When Elif waved a weak hand in response, the expectant crowd took a sigh of relief as many cheered for the miraculous rescue.
Efforts were underway to save four more people from the Arzu Apartment, reporters on site said. There were nine people alive in the ruins, six from the Oktay family, two from the Kılınç family and one unidentified survivor.
Furkan Oktay, whose parents and four siblings were in the wreckage, was overjoyed to discover his family is still alive. “Where hope ends, a new hope begins,” Oktay said as he waited with bated breath by the rescuers. On the 102nd hour, crews dug out Yasemin and Kadir Oktay, along with their children Arda, 12, Zilan, 22, Helin, 23, and Dilan,19, safely.
The injured Oktay family was sent to the nearest hospital, while the rescue teams and relatives embraced each other in relief.
Buse Kılınç, a student from Sakarya University who immediately set out for Hatay in the wake of the tremors, was another hopeful citizen expecting to see her parents pulled safely out of the ruins. Crews were working to rescue Raziye and Hacı Murat Kılınç from the debris as the clock kept ticking.
Later in the day, two more people of the Kılınç family were pulled out alive from the ruins, adding to the joy felt by their relatives, rescuers, and onlookers.
Earlier in central Hatay, emotions ran high when the rescue crew found a 7-year-old girl trapped in the wreckage of the Bakırcı Apartment building. Upon learning that the girl spoke Arabic, a translator was fetched to translate Tec Muhammed al-Halef's story. The girl explained she was in the living room of her home when the quake hit. Following a five-hour effort, Tec was recovered from beneath slabs of concrete and heaps of dirt.
As a National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE) personnel informed her she would be injected with a medicine to ease her thirst and hunger, Tec made everyone around her laugh through tears when she asked: “Is that a needle? Will it hurt?”
The 7-year-old girl was immediately sent to a nearby hospital.
Around the same time, some 101 hours into the aftermath, another woman made it out alive from the rubble in the Antakya district.
Gülendam Avcıoğlu, 36, was saved although she had suffered serious injuries, the officials said.
Rescue efforts continue at top speed across Hatay, as well as other earthquake-stricken cities in southern Türkiye, as volunteers and professionals from all around the world join hands to rescue survivors of the devastating disaster.
The successful rescue stories from dozens of damaged buildings and ruins inspire a ray of hope nationwide, while experts make encouraging revelations that the chance for survival could be as long as up to a week despite freezing temperatures.
