3 children rescued from rubble 52 hours after quakes hit southern Türkiye

By Sabri Kesen and Murat Yildirim

MUGLA/KOCAELI, Türkiye (AA) - Three children were rescued from the rubble on Wednesday, 52 hours after two powerful quakes hit Türkiye.

The rescues were made by teams dispatched to Hatay, one of the 10 provinces hard-hit by 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude quakes, from the Mugla and Kocaeli provinces.

Mugla’s Marmaris municipality said they rescued a boy and a girl, Eymen and Esra in the Kirkhan district of Hatay. The team will go to Antakya district after completing the mission in Kirkhan district.

Kocaeli municipality said the rescued boy’s name is Yigit Cakmak.

At least 8,574 people were killed and 49,133 others injured after two strong earthquakes on Monday jolted southern Türkiye, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of less than 10 hours.

More than 96,670 people in multiple search and rescue teams are currently conducting operations in the field, according to Türkiye’s disaster agency AFAD.