Baby, family of four pulled alive from debris 65 hours after Türkiye quakes

Turkish rescuers from Istanbul Municipality have pulled a baby from the rubble of a collapsed building in southern Hatay province — nearly 68 hours after powerful earthquakes struck southern Türkiye and Syria. 

Rescuers reported on Wednesday that the baby, named Helen, was in good health and put under supervision by medical units.

In Adiyaman province, another search and rescue team found four members of the same family alive under the wreckage on late hours of Wednesday.

The footage showed three of the survivors being carried on stretchers.

At least 12,391 people have been killed in Türkiye with 62,914 injured, and in northern Syria death toll climbed to  2,992. 

Thousands of buildings have collapsed across a wide region.

READ MORE: Palestinian family that fled Gaza war 'wiped out' in Türkiye earthquakes

Time running out

Meanwhile, time was running out for other survivors, as search efforts near the crucial 72-hour mark, rescue response experts said.

More than 90 percent of earthquake survivors are rescued within the first three days, said Ilan Kelman, a professor of disasters and health at University College London.

With the 72-hour window closing early on Thursday morning, experts say it is a race against the time.  

"The first 72 hours are considered to be critical," said Steven Godby, a natural hazards expert at Nottingham Trent University in England.

"The survival ratio on average within 24 hours is 74 percent, after 72 hours it is 22 percent and by the fifth day it is 6 percent."

READ MORE: Syria rescuers cut umbilical cord before pulling newborn alive from rubble

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