Teen, two men rescued in Turkey nearly 11 days after quake

Saturday, 18 February 2023 01:09 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ANTAKYA, AFP: Turkish rescuers pulled a 14-year-old boy and two men nearly 11 days after the huge earthquake, a minister said Friday, as rescue efforts wind down.

Osman, 14, was rescued 260 hours after the 7.8-magnitude tremor struck Turkey’s southeast and Syria, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter. He shared an image of the adolescent with his eyes open on a stretcher and said Osman had been taken to hospital in Antakya in the quake-devastated Hatay province.

Rescuers found Osman after hearing sounds in the rubble, Anadolu State news agency reported.

One hour later, rescuers elsewhere saved two men aged 26 and 33 in Antakya, Koca said, also sharing images of the men receiving treatment from health workers.

The DHA news agency named the men as Mehmet Ali Sakiroglu, 26, and Mustafa Avci, 33, and said they had been rescued from the same building’s rubble.

“I’m well, there are no issues,” Avci says during a call to a loved one in a video shared by Koca. The unseen man on the other end of the line breaks down before Avci asks, “How are my mother and others?”. “They’re all well, they’re waiting for you,” the man on the other end of the line shouts, as a small smile of relief appears on Avci’s face.

The quake has killed more than 41,000 people in Turkey and Syria, injured tens of thousands of others and left millions without shelter in freezing temperatures.

The tremor struck 11 provinces in Turkey. Turkish officials have said rescue efforts in three provinces, Adana, Kilis and Sanliurfa, have been completed.