This infant survived 5 days in the rubble!

Rescuers looking for survivors delighted to find two-month-old alive in Turkey despite spending days without food

Twenty-eight thousand deaths deaths, 6,000 buildings collapsed, hundreds of aftershocks—Turkey has been reeling under the aftermath of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on Monday. But in the midst of destruction and despair, miraculous tales of survival continue to emerge.

A two-month-old baby was rescued on Saturday from under the rubble in Turkey's Hatay as the crowd clapped and cheered. The child was found alive nearly 128 hours after the earthquake. Thousands of rescue workers are still scouring through flattened neighbourhoods despite freezing weather that has deepened the misery of millions now in desperate need of aid. Among those who were rescued five days after the quake are a two-year-old girl, a six months pregnant woman and a 70-year-old woman, Turkish media reported.

A Syrian woman is rescued from the rubble of a destroyed building in Hatay, on Sunday. Pic/AFP

Last Monday’s 7.8 magnitude quake, with several powerful aftershocks across Turkey and Syria, ranks as the world’s seventh deadliest natural disaster this century, approaching the 31,000 killed by a quake in neighbouring Iran in 2003. With a death count so far of 24,617 inside Turkey, it is the country’s deadliest earthquake since 1939. Over 3,500 have died in Syria, where tolls have not been updated since Friday.

Also read: Turkey earthquake: NDRF, Turkish Army rescue 8-year-old girl in Nurdagi

Collapsed buildings probe

Turkey vowed on Sunday to investigate thoroughly anyone suspected of responsibility for the collapse of buildings in the country’s devastating earthquakes nearly one week ago and has already ordered the detention of 113 suspects. Vice President Fuat Oktay said overnight that 131 suspects had so far been identified as responsible for the collapse of some of the buildings.

Germany to grant 3-month visas to survivors

Germany will grant three-month visas to Turkish and Syrian earthquake victims with family in the country, the interior minister said on Saturday. “This is emergency aid,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told daily newspaper Bild. “We want to allow Turkish or Syrian families in Germany to bring their close relatives from the disaster area to their homes without bureaucracy.” Faeser said that those eligible can have “regular visas, issued quickly and valid for three months”.

48 people arrested over looting after quake

Turkish authorities on Saturday arrested 48 people for looting after a powerful earthquake hit Turkey, reported state media.
The suspects were held in eight different provinces as part of investigations into looting after Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the region, news agency Anadolu said. Prosecutors can now detain people for an extra three days from four days previously for looting crimes as part of extended powers under the state of emergency, according to a decree published in the official gazette. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier vowed Turkey would crack down on looters.

28,000
No of people declared dead in Turkey and Syria as of Saturday

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