UPDATE - Massive rescue efforts underway in Türkiye after deadly quakes

UPDATES WITH MORE RESCUE STORIES

By Anadolu Staff

ISTANBUL (AA) - As deadly earthquakes hit Türkiye, rescue workers remove the rubble of collapsed buildings to save lives believed to be trapped under collapsed buildings.

Early Monday morning, 7.7 magnitude tremor struck the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province, then about nine hours later, a 7.6 magnitude quake centered in Kahramanmaras’s Elbistan district rocked the region, affecting several other provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

The earthquake was also felt in several countries in the region, including Lebanon and Syria.

At least 3,549 people were killed and 22,168 others injured in 10 provinces of Türkiye after two strong earthquakes on Monday jolted the southern part of the country, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.

Despite the adverse weather conditions in the region, search and rescue efforts continue uninterrupted.

Rescue workers pulled out Muhammet Suleyman Pekyanik from under the rubble of a collapsed building in the southeastern Diyarbakir province after 27 hours. The 30-year-old victim was taken to the hospital by an ambulance.

Zeynep Atesogullari, 35, was pulled alive from the debris after 31 hours in Diyarbakir.

In Kahramanmaras province, Rumeysa Yalcinkaya, 24, was rescued on Tuesday morning after being trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building for 27 hours. Yalcinkaya, currently in good health, was referred to a hospital.

After 28 hours of being trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras, Dilara Aktas, 17, and Ismail Kabaagac, 35, were rescued by the teams.

In the province, firefighters also successfully dug out a couple, Suleyman and Fadime Magrali, from beneath a collapsed building that the victims stayed under for 25 hours.

- Hatay, Osmaniye, Malatya

In the Iskenderun district of Hatay province, brothers Mehmet (23) and Hakan Yilmaz Cagan (10) were saved from the wreckage of a five-storey building.

Also, mother Feride and her son Doruk survived after they spent hours trapped underneath the rubble of a building that collapsed in Iskenderun.

Rescue teams rescued another mother Hulya Yilmaz, 30, and her 6-month-old daughter Ayse Vera in Antakya district.

In Osmaniye province, the teams pulled 30-year-old Kubilay from the wreckage of a destroyed building after 26 hours.

In Adiyaman province, a 12-year-old child, Sefa Yaprak, was pulled alive from the debris after 21 hours, and taken to a hospital by the medical teams.

After being trapped for 22 hours under rubbles in Sanliurfa, Meysem Lokman, a Syrian national, was rescued from the ruins of a six-story residential building that collapsed.

Participating in rescue efforts in Gaziantep, Turkish special operations police rescued at least two people, including a child, from under the rubble.

In Sehitkamil district, rescue teams saved mother Rabia Yilmaz and her daughter Gulben who were stuck under the rubble of a six-story apartment building for 30 hours.

It was reportedly said that other daughter of Yilmaz, Aysu, was pulled out of the wreckage earlier.

In Malatya province, father Sahin Ozdemir and his daughter Sadiye were rescued from a collapsed building.

Türkiye is observing a seven-day national mourning after the deadly earthquakes.

Erdogan on Monday said that with the quake, Türkiye was shaken by the "biggest disaster" since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake in the last century.

After the earthquakes, condolences poured in from around the world expressing solidarity with Türkiye, with many countries sending rescue teams and aid.