Toddler, her family pulled alive from debris 96 hours after quakes in Türkiye

By Cigdem Munibe Alyanak

ISTANBUL (AA) - A 1.5-year-old baby and her family members were pulled alive from rubble of a collapse building on Friday, four days after earthquakes hit southern Türkiye, killing over 18,340 people and causing widespread destruction.

Sela Elbarazi, her mother, father, brother and uncle were saved in Hatay’s Antakya district after being trapped for 96 hours.

They were given medical attention after the rescue operation.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in Kahramanmaras province, have impacted some 13 million people across 10 Turkish provinces including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.

The country is observing a seven-day mourning period, while the affected provinces are under a three-month state of emergency as search and rescue operations continue uninterruptedly.

Syria and Lebanon also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of fewer than 10 hours.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz