Monitoring Desk
KAHRAMANMARAS: Two children and three women were found and pulled alive from the debris after nine days of Turkey’s earthquake disaster.
According to BBC, 42-year-old Melike Imamoglu and Cemile Kekec were pulled from the rubble by rescuers in the Turkiya town of Kahramanmaras. Their rescue came as the workers turned their attention to cleaning up cities devastated by the earthquakes.
Millions of people across Turkey and Syria are living in makeshift camps and require humanitarian aid. Videos of the rescue posted on social media by the Mayor of Darica, Muzaffer Biyik, showed rescue workers applauding and embracing one another as Ms. Kekec was shifted into an ambulance.
Quake affected Antakya
In Antakya, another Turkish city affected by the earthquakes – local media reported a mother and her two children were pulled alive from the rubble. Ten days after the disaster, it is becoming harder to find quake survivors. The combined death toll now passed 41,000.
Foreign rescue workers who arrived in Turkiya shortly after the quakes are beginning to pack up and return home, while locals are shifting their focus to cleaning up the debris.
Survivors now begin to rebuild their lives. The Turkiya government has encouraged citizens to return to their homes if possible after authorities have said they are safe.
But several have lost their houses and are living in makeshift camps. In Kahramanmaras, where the women have been rescued, more than 1,000 survivors camped in a local stadium.
In Syria, the relief efforts have hampered by the civil war that has divided the country.
The United Nations didn’t provide aid to Syria for days, saying logistical issues were to blame.
When aid did arrive following the opening of the second border crossing through Turkiya, rescuers said they didn’t supply any of the heavy machinery required to remove rubble.
“It has never happened before there was an earthquake somewhere and the international community and the United Nations do not help,” said Raed Saleh, who is leading the White Helmets rescues force in opposition-held areas.
