Rescuers find new survivor nearly 12 days after Türkiye quakes
Hakan Yasinoglu, 45, is pulled alive from the ruins of a building in Hatay province, more than 278 hours after first tremor struck southeastern areas on February 6 morning.
Hakan Yasinoglu is taken to hospital following his rescue 278 hours after twin earthquakes in Hatay province.
Turkish rescuers have pulled a 45-year-old man from rubble nearly 12 days after two devastating quakes claimed almost 40,000 lives in the country.
On Friday, the man, Hakan Yasinoglu, was rescued 278 hours after the first 7.7-magnitude tremor in badly hit Hatay, a southern province near the border with Syria.
Images on social media showed rescuers gingerly carrying a stretcher with the man through the ruins of a flattened building.
He was tied down to the stretcher to avoid a fall, and covered with a golden thermal jacket.
He was immediately placed in a waiting ambulance and whisked away.
Teams have been finding survivors all week despite them being stuck for so long under the rubble in freezing weather.
READ MORE: 'We had prepared her grave': Woman pulled alive from Türkiye quake debris
45-year-old man rescued from rubble in Hatay, more than 278 hours after initial tremor struck southern Türkiye https://t.co/lHTJykfNPu pic.twitter.com/HpLwtygU1b
— ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) February 17, 2023
Search continues at 200 sites
Earlier, Osman Halebiye, 14, and Mustafa Avci, 34, were saved in Hatay.
As Avci was carried away, he was put on a video call with his parents who showed him his newborn baby.
"I had completely lost all hope. This is a true miracle. They gave me my son back. I saw the wreckage and I thought nobody could be saved alive from there," his father said.
An exhausted Avci was later reunited with his wife Bilge and daughter Almile at a hospital in Mersin.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay on Friday said rescue efforts continued at fewer than 200 sites in the region.
The quake has killed more than 45,000 people in Türkiye and Syria, damaging or collapsing some 80,000 buildings, injured tens of thousands of others and left millions homeless.
The tremor struck 11 provinces in Türkiye.
Turkish officials have said rescue efforts in three provinces, Adana, Kilis and Sanliurfa, have been completed.
Experts say most rescues occur in the 24 hours following an earthquake. However, a teenage girl was saved 15 days after Haiti's massive 2010 quake, giving hope that more people might yet be found.
READ MORE: Boy among three survivors pulled alive 260 hours after Türkiye quakes
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