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Turkey-Syria earthquake: Family trapped for more than 100 hours rescued from rubble

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Six members of the same family have been rescued after spending 101 hours buried under rubble in Turkey following the devastating earthquake.

The group managed to survive by huddling together in a small air pocket beneath a collapsed building in Iskenderun, Hatay province.

Earlier, a teenager was pulled alive from beneath the debris in the city of Gaziantep.

Earthquake latest – Weak buildings branded ‘murder’

The rescues come as hopes faded of finding more survivors four days after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the border region between Turkey and Syria, killing more than 20,000 people.

With morgues and cemeteries overwhelmed, dead bodies lie wrapped in blankets, rugs and tarpaulins in the streets of some cities.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called it “the disaster of the century”.

Near the epicentre of the quake in Gaziantep, rescuers pulled Adnan Muhammed Korkut from the basement where had been trapped since the tremor on Monday.

The 17-year-old smiled at the crowd of friends and relatives who cried tears of joy as he was carried out and placed on a stretcher.

“Thank God you arrived,” he said, embracing his mother and others who leaned down to kiss and hug him as he was put into an ambulance.

“Thank you everyone.”

Read more:
Why was the destruction to buildings in Turkey so catastrophic?
Gruesome, technical work: How an earthquake search and rescue mission is conducted

Trapped for 94 hours, the teenager said he had been forced to drink his own urine to survive.

A rescue worker called Yasemin, told him: “I have a son just like you.

“I swear to you, I have not slept for four days. I swear I did not sleep; I was trying to get you out.”

As well as the growing number of dead, tens of thousands of people have also been injured and many more left homeless.

In the city of Antakya, people scrambled for supplies being distributed from a lorry.

One survivor, Ahmet Tokgoz, called for the government to evacuate people from the region.

He said: “Especially in this cold, it is not possible to live here.

“If people haven’t died from being stuck under the rubble, they’ll die from the cold.”

The winter weather and damage to roads and airports have hampered the rescue effort.

Some have complained the government was slow to respond – a perception that could hurt Mr Erdogan at a time when he faces a tough battle for re-election in May.

Mr Erdogan has been visiting affected cities over the last two days.

There will be a special programme called Disaster Zone: The Turkey-Syria Earthquake on Sky News on Friday evening at 9.30pm

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