Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: More than a week after the devastating earthquake, a young girl was rescued from the rubble of a block of flats in southern Turkey.
Miray had been trapped in ruins for 178 hours, or nearly seven and a half days. Workers were cheering and shouting, “God is great,” as she was lifted out of the darkness in the video.
Several people rescued
On Monday, several others were rescued, including a 13-year-old boy who had been trapped for 182 hours. However, rescues are becoming increasingly rare as the death toll approaches 35,000. This is partly due to the human body’s limited ability to survive without water.
An emergency medicine specialist said other factors include how much space the trapped person has to breathe and the severity of their injuries. According to Prof Tony Redmond, cold temperatures in Turkey and Syria are a double-edged sword. He explained that when you freeze, your blood vessels constrict, allowing you to recover from your injuries for a little longer. However, getting too cold is dangerous in and of itself. The death toll in Turkey and neighboring Syria is expected to skyrocket, with the UN’s humanitarian chief warning that it could more than double.
Miray, the young girl rescued in Adiyaman on Monday, was strapped to a stretcher and carried away by rescue workers. According to local media, teams were hoping to locate her older sister. 13-year-old Kaan was rescued after being trapped for 182 hours in Hatay province, and a woman named Naide Umay was discovered alive after 175 hours.
Rescue workers in Kahramanmaras had made contact with a grandmother, mother, and baby who were all trapped but alive and were working to reach them. Thousands of teams across the region have been scouring the remains of collapsed buildings for survivors, including coal miners and experts using thermal cameras and sniffer dogs.
However, there is a growing sense that the rescue mission will soon come to an end if people are not found alive. Officials are looking into shelter, food, and healthcare as the focus shifts to recovery. There are also concerns about whether the natural disaster’s impact was exacerbated by human error.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has acknowledged shortcomings in the response, but he appeared to blame fate during a visit to a disaster zone last week. Officials say they have issued 113 arrest warrants related to the construction of the collapsed buildings, with 12 people arrested, including contractors.
