Earthquake between Turkey and Syria, over 12 thousand dead. 12-year-old extracted alive from the rubble after 62 hours

The death toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria exceeds 12,000.

World Health Organization officials estimate that the victims could be as many as 20,000.

The wounded are 37,011.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip

after criticism of the slowness in reaching some of the affected areas.

"Initially there were problems at the airports and on the roads, but today things are getting easier and tomorrow will be even easier," Erdogan said as reported by international media.

"We have mobilized all our resources - he added while visiting the places affected by the earthquake -. The State is doing his job".

The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, spoke with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, as happened two days ago, informing himself of the solidarity initiatives that Italy is putting in place for the relief and aid for the Turkish and Syrian populations victims of the very serious earthquake that struck them.

More than 298,000 people have been displaced from their homes

by the earthquake, Syrian state media reported.

The number appears to refer only to parts of Syria under government control, not to those controlled by other factions in the country's north-west, which is closer to the epicenter of Monday's quake.

10 at a time under a canopy in the main cemetery of Gaziantep, Turkey, waiting for an imam to bless them before a hasty burial.

While rescuers work hoping to find people still alive, the Yesilkent cemetery is overflowing with mourners from all over the region who have come to the city near the epicenter of the quake.

The number of victims to be buried is so high that the mayor of Gaziantep, Fatma Sahin, has called for more Muslim preachers to come forward to help with funerals in cemeteries.

NEW RESCUES AND INCREDIBLE STORIES

The situation "is dramatic" and "there are so many requests for help: we are forced to choose who to save on the basis of objective data".

Samuele Pacchi, a Tuscan nurse who left to bring relief to Turkey after the earthquake and is active in the city of Hatay, tells ANSA.

"They are desperate scenes: people kneel down, cry and beg us to intervene. It becomes really difficult to say no, but unfortunately - he says - we are forced to make a choice and we must necessarily focus more on objective data, such as rumors from under the rubble or if one of our fire brigade dogs hears a wake."

A 12-year-old boy was pulled alive and carried away on a stretcher from the rubble of one of the many buildings destroyed by the earthquake in Nurdaği, near Gaziantep in Turkey.

The rescue was filmed live by Rai News 24. Khadir's release - this is the child's name - lasted 2 hours.

The child was protected by the mother's body, thanks to which the rescuers were able to open a passage and save him after about 62 hours under the rubble.

There could be dozens of people in the rubble of the building – it was reported during the live broadcast – and it is not clear whether other voices have been heard from the rubble.

"Under the rubble of two different buildings we heard the voices of two people who were able to respond: a 16-year-old boy who is in a basement and a 65-year-old woman inside a house. Now the Our team is hard at work trying to pull them out of the rubble. At the moment, we have heard their voices."

This was stated to ANSA by Samuele Pacchi, one of the Italian nurses who left to bring relief after the earthquake in Turkey, who is operating in the city of Hatay.

In the areas devastated by the earthquake and affected by the frost

and in many cases involve children: an 18-month-old girl was pulled alive from the rubble more than 56 hours after the earthquake in the province of Kahramanmaras, in southern Turkey .

An 8-year-old girl has been rescued after being trapped for 40 hours in Salqin, Syria.

In Hatay, Turkey, an eight-year-old boy was rescued from rubble after about 52 hours. 

Earthquake in Syria, little girl pulled alive from the rubble after 40 hours

ITALIAN FIREFIGHTERS IN ANTIOCH RESCUE TWO BOYS

The Usar teams of the Italian firefighters extracted a second boy alive in Antioch: the young man was under the rubble of a seven-story building where the teams had been operating since this morning.

However, there was nothing they could do for a little girl: the firefighters extracted the lifeless body and handed it over to the Turkish authorities.

The 23-year-old boy buried under the rubble of a collapsed building in Antioch was extracted alive.

ANSA learns it from the Italian doctors on the spot.

It took 9 hours of work to extract the 23-year-old boy from the rubble, according to the firefighters who intervened.

The young man was under 3 attics, with one leg stuck under a radiator.

It was the Usar (Urban search and rescue, specialized in this activity) teams of Tuscany and Lazio who pulled him out and during the 9 hours of work there were several aftershocks which made the intervention even more complicated.

Twitter has stopped working in Turkey after criticism of the delays in relief efforts after the earthquake multiplied on social media.

The social network has also been used in recent days by people who have remained under the rubble to report their position under the rubble.

Today the Turkish president Erdogan had called for people to be on guard "from provocateurs" who, in his opinion, spread false news.

ITALIAN IS STILL MISSING

The Italian Angelo Zen, 60, from Veneto, is still missing

.

"Except the entrepreneur Angelo Zen, all the Italians who were in the earthquake zones have been contacted, they are safe. Near the epicenter there were a few dozen compatriots, while in the area there were about 170, at least those who were registered on the app".

This was stated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in Agorà on Rai 3.

ANSA Agency

An Italian from Veneto who is missing in Turkey is Angelo Zen - Veneto

"There is only one Italian missing who we have not been able to contact. It is Angelo Zen, from the province of Vicenza, we are in constant contact with the family".

(HANDLE)

"My thoughts go at this moment to the populations of Turkey and Syria hard hit by the earthquake which caused thousands of deaths and injuries".

Thus

at the end of the general audience.

"With emotion I pray for them and I express my closeness to these peoples, to the families of the victims and to all those who suffer from this devastating calamity - he added -. I thank all those who are making an effort to bring relief and I encourage everyone to show solidarity with those territories in part already tortured by a long war".

Earthquake in Syria, another child saved: pulled alive from the rubble in Atmeh