Earthquake in Turkey: Couple survived 296 hours under the rubble

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Collapsed building in Antakya

Photo: MAXIM SHEMETOV / REUTERS

Twelve days after the devastating earthquake, survivors have been recovered in Turkey.

Rescuers found a couple with their 12-year-old son under the rubble of a destroyed building in the hard-hit city of Antakya.

According to media reports, the boy later died in hospital as a result of dehydration.

At around 11:30 a.m. local time — around 296 hours after the earthquake — the three people were rescued by a team of helpers from Kyrgyzstan, the state news agency Anadolu reports.

The rescuers also found the bodies of two other children.

According to Anadolu, it should also be the couple's children.

"We heard screams when we were digging an hour ago today," said a member of the Reuters rescue team.

»When we find people who are still alive, we are always happy.«

However, the chances of finding survivors under the rubble are getting smaller with each passing hour.

The February 6 earthquake that hit the Turkish-Syrian border region with a magnitude of 7.8 has so far officially confirmed more than 44,000 deaths in the two countries.

Some news agencies report a total of more than 46,000 dead.

The information from Syria has apparently not changed for days and is therefore currently not considered reliable.

It was announced on Saturday that 31-year-old soccer player Christian Atsu was also among the fatalities.

He has been considered missing since the disaster.

But despite being considered a miracle almost two weeks after the earthquake, people are still being rescued.

A man was rescued from under a collapsed building in southern Hatay province on Friday, 278 hours after the devastating quake, Anadolu News Agency reported.

Hours earlier, two other people had been recovered alive from the rubble in Antakya.

For the coming days, the Turkish Civil Protection Afad expects earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 5. More than 84,000 buildings in Turkey have collapsed or been badly damaged, as the Minister for Urban Planning, Murat Kurum, announced on Friday.

Thousands of houses have also been destroyed in Syria.

In the earthquake areas, authorities are therefore still warning people not to return to their homes.

Millions of people are affected by the effects of the violent earthquakes.

Tens of thousands were injured and thousands are still missing.

Search and rescue teams are still deployed in the hard-hit areas.

According to the AP news agency, however, the work should be stopped on Sunday.

kry/Reuters/AP