Boy among three survivors pulled alive 260 hours after Turkey quakes

Eleven days into the quake — one of the deadliest in the past 100 years — rescuers have pulled a 12-year-old boy and two men out of the rubble, more than 260 hours after the earthquakes that have so far left over 43,000 people dead in Turkey and neighbouring Syria.

The boy was rescued from the rubble of a building in the central Antakya city of Hatay province at the 260th hour following the first earthquake that hit Turkey on the morning of February 6, local media reported late on Thursday.

Osman Halebiye, a foreign national, was pulled from the ruins of Buket Apartment in Ekinci district.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca visited the boy in a local hospital.

Two more people were pulled alive from the rubble in the same province but such rescues have become increasingly rare.

Both men, Mehmet Ali Sakiroglu, 26, and Mustafa Avci, 34, were rescued from the rubble of a building in Antakya district in the 261st hour after the first 7.7 magnitude quake.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca visits Osman Halebiye at a hospital in Hatay province. Photo: Anadolu Agency via TRT World.

Delighted relatives of the injured rushed to the hospital where the two men are being treated.

Dramatic rescues and aid appeals

Their rescue came after Neslihan Kilic, 42, was pulled from the rubble in central Kahramanmaras province 257 hours after the quakes.

Kilic's husband and two children are still missing.

CNN Turk said more than 250 people had lost their lives in the complex of high-rises where Kilic was found alive.

Rescuers also found Aleyna Olmez, 17, alive under the rubble in the Dulkadiroglu district of Kahramanmaras province, ending her 248-hour torment.

The United Nations has meanwhile launched an appeal for $1 billion to help victims in Türkiye.

"I urge the international community to step up and fully fund this critical effort in response to one of the biggest natural disasters of our times," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.

He said that "Türkiye is home to the largest number of refugees in the world and has shown enormous generosity to its Syrian neighbours for years," so it is time for the world to support the Turkish people.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths, who visited both quake-ravaged countries last week, said: "The people of Türkiye have experienced unspeakable heartache."

Griffiths' office said some 47,000 buildings have been destroyed or damaged.

"We must stand with them in their darkest hour and ensure they receive the support they need," Griffiths said.

Source: TRT World