Dog survives after 22 days under rubble in Türkiye

By Ufuk Ertop

HATAY, Türkiye (AA) - A dog named "Aleks" was rescued on Tuesday after 22 days under the rubble in Hatay, Türkiye's southernmost province and one of the worst hit by the Feb.6 quakes.

Murat Arici, Aleks's owner, called rescue teams for help after hearing his dog barking, which was trapped in the rubble after the collapse of a 2-story building.

After about 2 hours of work, the dog was rescued by Türkiye's Animal Rights Federation (HAYTAP) volunteers and Konya Seydisehir Municipality Civil Works Directorate teams.

After the rescue, the Siberian husky dog Aleks was taken to HAYTAP Field Hospital for treatment.

"We realized the dog was alive after checking the debris. The area was very small. He was trapped under the rubble. There was a small hole where only the dog's nose could fit. I dug there with a chisel. We cut the iron by opening it with my hands. Somehow, I got to the dog out," HAYTAP volunteer Osman Polat, who pulled Aleks out of the rubble, told Anadolu.

Polat said that they were happy to be able to pull the dog out of the rubble alive on the 22nd day after the quakes.

"Surviving 22 days in that hole without eating or drinking anything is really a miracle," he said, adding that even though Aleks had lost some weight, his general state of health was still good.

More than 45,000 people have died in the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, which centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces as well on Feb. 6 – Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.

* Writing by Anna Cecilia Canatan