A rescue team saved a small girl that has been pulled from the debris of a block of flats in southern Turkey, more than a week after the terrible earthquake struck.
Miray had been trapped in the wreckage for 178 hours – seven-and-a-half days.
The video shows workers applauding and exclaiming “God is awesome” as she was pulled out of the darkness. Elsewhere, a woman was saved after 175 hours under a collapsed structure.
Rescues are growing uncommon as the number of dead reaches 35,000.
This is mainly due to constraints on how long the human body can survive without water – especially in frigid weather.
The eventual death toll in Turkey and neighboring Syria is likely to be far higher, with the United Nations’ humanitarian head saying it might “double or more”.
Miray – the young girl rescued on Monday in the city of Adiyaman – was strapped to a stretcher and brought away by rescue workers. Local media stated that rescuers were close to discovering her older sibling.
In hard-hit Hatay, a woman named Naide Umay recovered after 175 hours under the rubble, before being brought to the hospital in an ambulance.
Thousands of teams around the region – including coal miners and experts using thermal cameras and sniffing dogs – have been examining the wreckage of collapsed buildings to find remaining survivors.
But hopes of finding individuals alive are fading and there is a sense that the rescue attempt will soon cease.
The focus is shifting to rehabilitation, with officials looking at shelter, food, and healthcare.
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Questions are also being raised about whether the natural disaster’s impact was made worse by human shortcomings.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has conceded errors in the response, but during one visit to a disaster zone last week, he appeared to blame fate.
Officials said they have issued 113 arrest warrants in connection with the construction of buildings that fell, with 12 people taken into custody, including contractors.
