The good news from the earthquake area is becoming rarer, but it is still there: Two men can probably be saved around 261 hours after the disaster. The number of victims in Turkey and Syria meanwhile exceeds 44,000. According to experts, this is far from the end.
According to their own statements, rescue workers in Turkey were again able to rescue two men from the rubble in the city of Antakya. The two were freed in the 261st hour after the beginning of the earthquake disaster, reported the state broadcaster CNN Türk and described the rescue of the 26 and 34-year-old men as a “double miracle”. The information could not be independently verified.
One of the men immediately insisted on calling a relative, Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted. The person called broke down in tears on the phone when he heard about the rescued, as seen on video. After initial treatment in the field hospital, the man is now being treated in the hospital, Koca said on Twitter.
Humans can typically survive about 72 hours without water. According to doctors, those who are still being rescued must have found some kind of water supply in the rubble.
The dead are still being recovered from the rubble in Turkey. The Turkish civil protection agency Afad has now increased the number of official deaths to 38,044, according to a statement on Friday night. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of victims in Syria is at least 5,900. So far, almost 44,000 people have died in connection with the earthquake. The UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths expected up to 50,000 deaths on Sunday, other experts assume much higher numbers. Thousands continue to be missing.
According to Afad, there have already been 4,734 aftershocks of varying strength. Their number is also increasing every hour.
