UPDATE 2- Turkey: Young girl rescued 91 hours after quake

ADDS QUOTE FROM TURKISH PRESIDENT ERDOGAN; OTHER SMALL CHANGES

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - A 3-year-old girl was pulled out of the rubble alive on Tuesday days after a magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit Turkey's Aegean region.

Ayda Gezgin was rescued in the Bayrakli district of the Aegean Izmir province 91 hours after the quake.

Ayda, the 107th survivor to be rescued, was taken to hospital for treatment.

The young survivor was seen to be conscious and looking at her surroundings when being transported to Ege University Hospital.

Speaking at a news conference, Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum said by all indications, Ayda’s health is stable and good, a view echoed by the deputy health minister.

Deputy Health Minister Muhammet Guven told reporters that Ayda remains conscious, healthy and is able to respond. He also confirmed that she displays no problems in her vital signs.

He added that search and rescue efforts in four buildings continue while efforts in 13 buildings have been completed in the city, which is Turkey’s third largest.

On Twitter, Mehmet Gulluoglu, the head of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), expressed happiness at the little girl's rescue.

On Twitter, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed happiness at the little girl's rescue and shared photos of her from the hospital.

"Ayda, this was a miracle ... Thanks be to Allah for giving us new hopes with your smiling eyes after 91 hours. Get well soon, beautiful child," he said.

-‘She never cried’

Speaking to reporters following Ayda's rescue, rescue team member Nusret Aksoy said he had spotted the young girl waving from the rubble.

"I saw her from the debris. She waved at me. I initially heard her scream, then called my colleagues over. I asked her name and she said, 'My name is Ayda, I’m fine’,” he said.

“I then asked her to wave her hand if she was all right, and she did."

Semih Tufan, a medic from the National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE), told reporters that when she saw the rescue teams, the dehydrated little girl asked for water and ayran, a traditional yogurt drink.

"She asked for this two or three times,” he added.

“She was scared inside the debris but didn’t let go of our senior AFAD member. Never cried."

Turkey is among the world's most seismically active zones, and has suffered devastating earthquakes in the past, including the 7.4 Marmara quake of 1999.

The death toll from last week’s 6.6-magnitude earthquake in Turkey’s Aegean region now stands at 105, authorities said on Tuesday.

According to AFAD, 144 victims are still under treatment, while over 880 more have been discharged from hospitals.

A total of 1,475 aftershocks – 44 of them with a magnitude higher than 4.0 – have been recorded since last Friday’s quake rattled Izmir, Turkey’