Rescuers efforts continued apace in the western Turkish city of Izmir on Saturday, a day after a powerful earthquake hit the Aegean Sea, causing buildings to come crashing down and claiming the lives of at least 39 people.
Written content from CNN
hirty-seven of the deaths were in Turkey, authorities there said, and two were in Greece. At least 885 people were injured in Turkey.
A total of 20 buildings were seriously damaged in Izmir by the tremor Friday afternoon, according to Izmir Mayor Tunc Soyer, the majority of them in the middle-class Bayrakli district.
Search-and-rescue operations remained underway in nine buildings as of Saturday afternoon, while operations have been completed in eight other buildings, Turkey’s disaster agency said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that 103 people have been rescued from the quake’s rubble.
Overnight, tens of people gathered anxiously around each collapsed building, huddling under blankets in the bitter cold as search-and-rescue teams worked to locate those trapped. The rumble of heavy construction machinery filled the air, punctuated by bursts of crying and shouting.
Much of the activity was focused on the large Riza building, which housed businesses and apartments on its eight floors.
One survivor, 28-year-old Buse Hasyilmaz, was pulled alive from the rubble there at about midnight, several hours after the building collapsed.
Hasyilmaz, who was at a dental practice in the building with her parents when the earthquake hit, was able to talk to rescue teams and a Turkish minister on the phone while they were trying to reach her.
In a video from the scene, she told them “unleash the dogs. I will make a cat sound,” in an effort to attract the rescue dogs’ attention.
The minister responded that this was a good idea, adding: “I want you to remain calm like this. Keep your spirits up and be patient.”Hasyilmaz’s father was also rescued safely. It wasn’t immediately clear whether her mother had been located.
Hours later, workers reached and rescued 16-year-old Inci in the same building.”I’ll come and listen to you play the violin,” a female rescue worker promises the teenager, seen in another video. Her legs are trapped, she can’t feel them. She’s pinned down by a block of cement.
“I hurt a lot,” Inci says, pleading with the rescue worker to hold her hand. For nearly a full day she’s been alone, in pain and terrified.”You look like your mother. She’s fine, she’s waiting for you,” the rescue worker tells her.
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