Little girl is born and pulled from debris of Turkey quake amid fears that 20,000 people died
A BABY born under the rubble of a flattened town is carried to safety yesterday — giving rescuers a flicker of hope amid the aftermath of an earthquake feared to have killed up to 20,000 people.
The girl, with her umbilical cord still attached, was pulled from the debris of Jenderes, in Syria.
Tragically her mother was reported to have died shortly after giving birth while trapped for more than 24 hours.
In neighbouring Turkey, forlorn Mesut Hancer sat holding the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak.
She had died in the city of Kahramanmaras, her fingers reaching in vain from the wreckage of their home.
Locals had dug frantically with pneumatic drills, angle grinders and then with their bare hands.
But it was too late.
Irmak was among more than 5,000 victims already confirmed dead after a 7.8 magnitude quake, the biggest since 1939.
In cities across the stricken area — such as Antakya in the south of Turkey — the dead were placed on the pavements as relatives raced to find their loved ones.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency in the quake’s epicentre, Gaziantep, and nine other cities.
In the harbour city of Iskenderen, the sky turned black as hundreds of shipping containers caught fire.
In Diyarbakir, a city of 1.8million in central Turkey, rescuers battled to find survivors in a collapsed eight-storey block of flats.
Dozens of hard-hat wearing emergency workers kept breaking off to put their ears to the twisted metal, but were met by deathly silence.
One rescue worker said: “The flats collapsed like a wedding cake. People were asleep inside.”
Amid terrifying aftershocks, which threaten to flatten remaining buildings, a resident said: “I’ve barely slept since the first quake hit. None of us has.”
A global rescue effort is in full swing, with Britain’s development minister Andrew Mitchell pledging to do everything to help.
He said: “Britain is always there first and in strength to help when these appalling catastrophes take place. And we will be there this time.”
A team of 76 search and rescue specialists with four sniffer dogs have already been dispatched from the UK.
But rescue efforts were hampered by further quakes as well as falling snow and freezing temperatures.
More than 13million people are believed to have been effected.
James Elder, of kids charity Unicef, said the quakes “may have killed thousands of children”.
Often even apparent chinks of light merely mask a family tragedy.
Toddler Raghad Ismail was dragged from the rubble bloodied and dazed in Azaz a town in rebel-held northern Syria.
Later the 18 month-old was seen chewing on a piece of bread as she sat under a blanket in the winter cold.
Yet her uncle Abu Hussam revealed: “The father is feared to have his back broken, his young daughter is fine.
“His pregnant wife, his five-year-old daughter and his four-year-old son have all been killed.”
The father is feared to have his back broken, his young daughter is fine. His pregnant wife, his five-year-old daughter and his four-year-old son have all been killed.
Abu Hussam
Families have had heartbreaking exchanges with trapped loved ones.
Desperate Nurgul Atay, from Antakya, said that she could hear her mum’s voice beneath a collapsed building but no heavy equipment was available to free her.
Nurgul added: “If only we could lift the concrete slab we’d be able to reach her.
“My mother is 70-years-old. She won’t be able to withstand this for long.”
Footage emerged of a resident hearing a woman’s voice pleading for help. In the darkness, the man says: “As you see, there is a dead body here. He is dead and nobody has removed him. And a woman’s voice is heard from underneath.”
The woman is again heard crying out and banging on metal but the resident is unable to help without heavy machinery.
Some of those buried alive have sent harrowing voice messages.
Turkish journalist Ibrahim Haskologlu said he had been sent videos pleading for help.
The Istanbul-based reporter added: “They’re telling us where they are and yet we can’t do anything.”
Thousands of Turks from the north of the country are flying to the stricken south to work as volunteers — while others are comforted by cabin crew as they travel to pay their last respects to loved ones.
The huge first quake struck at 4.17am on Monday as a winter storm raged, leaving a trail of destruction stretching for hundreds of miles along Turkey’s border with Syria.
It was followed by a slightly less powerful 7.5-magnitude quake on Monday afternoon and then a 5.6 magnitude quake yesterday.
There have been more than 285 aftershocks leaving residents terrified more buildings will topple.
As well as over 5,000 confirmed deaths, at least 20,426 are so far reported injured with at least 11,302 buildings destroyed.
Over 5,000 confirmed deaths
Search teams have already pulled more than 8,000 people from the rubble.
A further 380,000 have been forced to seek refuge in mosques, shopping malls and sports stadiums.
Collapsed roads and bridges are also hindering emergency services.
The highway connecting Gaziantep and Adana in southern Turkey — two of the worst affected cities — has been sliced in two in one section by the force of the quakes.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told the House of Commons yesterday that three Britons are missing in the disaster zone.
He added that 35 British nationals are being offered support.
Andrew Lee, professor of public health at the University of Sheffield, said: “The full scale of the disaster will not be clear for a few days yet, and the total number of casualties will probably increase.
“The risk of further aftershocks remains, and damaged buildings pose a further hazard.”