Turkey quake rescue winds down after dozens pulled from rubble

ELAZIG: A woman and her young child were pulled out alive from under a collapsed building before Turkey began winding down its rescue operation on Sunday following an earthquake that killed at least 38 people.

The magnitude 6.8 quake struck in eastern Turkey on Friday evening, killing 34 people in Elazig province and four in the neighbouring province of Malatya. More than 1,600 others were hurt and 45 were rescued from under rubble on Saturday night, Turkey`s AFAD disaster authority said.

Those rescued included a 35-year-old woman and her infant daughter in the Mustafa Pasa district of Elazig. Rescuers who heard their screams took several hours to reach them in temperatures as low as -4 C (24.8°F), state media said

"Can you hear me?" television footage showed a rescuer calling to the mother. "We are coming. We will save you".

"Please get me out, I cannot stand it anymore. Get my daughter, I am nothing without my kid," she replied before being safely lifted out on a crane.

The woman`s husband was among those killed.

In a nearby neighbourhood, rescue workers stood on mountains of debris where the quake had split an apartment building in half. They dug through using buckets, blowing whistles when they needed silence to listen for trapped people.

In all, 45 people were rescued from under rubble on Saturday night, Turkey`s AFAD disaster authority said.

Speaking later in Elazig, about 550 km (340 miles) east of the capital Ankara, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the rescue operation was largely concluded. AFAD said rescuers were still working only at one site in Elazig, where Turkish broadcasters said three people were believed to be missing.

Soylu also said aftershocks were continuing, and Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, speaking alongside Soylu, said 104 people were being treated in hospitals. Thirteen were in intensive care but none was in a critical condition.

Other provinces sent thousands of emergency workers to support rescue efforts, which were also supplemented by hundreds of volunteers, officials said.
AFAD said on Sunday it had sent more than 10,400 tents, 17,000 beds, 37,000 blankets, heaters and food supplies.

RECONSTRUCTION PROCESS

Environment and Urbanisation Minister Murat Kurum said the quake had damaged buildings in several provinces and 12 structures needed to be demolished immediately. Kurum later said the government would begin a reconstruction process, and there were 1.5 million structures needing "immediate renewal".

Soylu said those affected by the quake would start receiving financial support from Monday. AFAD said it had transferred 3 million lira ($506,688.29) in emergency aid to each of the municipalities in Elazig and Malatya.

It said 1,521 buildings had been damaged, including 645 heavily damaged and 76 collapsed structures. Speaking on Saturday during a visit to Elazig and Malatya, President Tayyip Erdogan said steel-framed houses would be rapidly built for displaced residents. On Sunday, he said new, permanent houses would also be provided soon.

"We do not have the luxury of being slow. We cannot be late and we will not allow any delays," he said in Istanbul. Turkey has a history of powerful earthquakes. More than 17,000 people were killed in August 1999 when a 7.6 magnitude quake struck Izmit, a city southeast of Istanbul. In 2011, a quake in the eastern city of Van killed more than 500.