Earthquake survivors still being pulled from ruins despite long odds

German Press Agency

ISTANBUL – Turkish teams’ relentless search for survivors after the region’s devastating earthquakes continued for a tenth day on Wednesday, with rescues still be reported despite the long odds.

Teams will make sure every last person is pulled from the rubble before debris removal starts, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late Tuesday, adding that nearly 20,000 buildings were destroyed.

A 42-year-old woman was pulled out alive in Kahramanmaraş province on Wednesday morning, state broadcaster TRT reported.

Melike İmamoğlu had been buried under the debris for 222 hours, the report said. The rescue could not be independently verified.

Local media have been reporting details of the lengths trapped people have gone to stay alive.

Two brothers, who were rescued Tuesday morning in Kahramanmaraş, told broadcaster CNN Türk that they had access to protein powder which they dissolved in their own urine and consumed.

Meanwhile, clean-up work started at some parts of the hard-hit province of Hatay, as a reporter from the state broadcaster TRT reported.

Two powerful earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria in quick succession early on February 6.

Turkish authorities report 35,418 dead in that country alone, taking the combined total with Syria over 40,000.

About 1.6 million people are currently staying in emergency shelters in Turkey and another 600,000 people have left the region or been evacuated.

Meanwhile, Turkish authorities arrested several contractors for alleged responsibility in collapsed buildings. At least 20 social media users were arrested over “provocative” posts, the police said on Wednesday.

Erdoğan slammed certain social media posts, including alleged damage to dams in the region, as “slander” and pledged legal action under a state of emergency announced for the 10 quake-hit provinces.