Children among those pulled from destroyed buildings in Turkey’s Hatay

FILE PHOTO: A child is rescued from the rubble after 150 hours in the aftermath of an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, February 12, 2023 in this screen grab taken from a handout video. Turkish Health Ministry/ Handout via REUTERS

A father and daughter, a toddler, and a 10-year-old girl were among survivors pulled from the ruins of collapsed buildings in the southern Turkish province of Hatay on Sunday.

Monday’s earthquake flattened swathes of towns and cities in parts of Turkey and Syria, killing at least 28,000 people. As rescue efforts enter their sixth day, time for crews to reach trapped victims alive under the rubble is running out, but emergency crews are still finding survivors.

Video released by the Istanbul Municipality showed rescuers in Hatay pulling a 10-year-old girl through a hole in the floor of a damaged building before carrying her out on a stretcher.

The girl, named Cudi, had been buried for 147 hours, the Istanbul Municipality said.

LIVE UPDATES: Earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Also in Hatay, rescuers pulled a small child from the rubble of a collapsed building. A video released by the Turkish health ministry showed the child lying silently on a stretcher, bruised and covered in dust, as rescuers carried her to safety.

In central Hatay, a man and his five-year-old daughter Emira were also recovered alive from a destroyed building.

Video released by the Kocaeli Municipality on Sunday showed rescuers talking to Emira and her father while they were still trapped under debris.

“Hello beautiful girl, we are here to take you out,” one of the rescuers said.

READ: In Turkey, night fills with screams and crying as earthquake rescues go on

Around 180 km (110 miles) to the north of Hatay, in the city of Kahramanmaras, 27-year-old Muhammed Habib recited the Koran to rescuers during a 10-hour operation to extricate him.

Video posted on social media showed Habib pumping his fist in the air, yelling “God is greatest,” to the cheers of rescuers below as he was finally winched out by machinery.

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