A young girl has been pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in the Turkish city of Izmir, four days after a strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece.
She has been identified as three-year-old Ayda Gezgin. She had been trapped since Friday’s earthquake which killed over 100 people.
“We have witnessed a miracle in the 91st hour,” Izmir mayor Tunc Soyer tweeted. “… Along with the great pain we have experienced, we have this joy as well.”
Rescuer Nusret Aksoy told reporters that he heard a child scream and asked his colleagues for silence so they could locate her.
The team then saw her arm in between blocks of concrete and were able to talk to her.
She then asked for water and ayran, a Turkish yoghurt and water mixture.
Ayda was found in the kitchen, protected by the dishwasher and the washing machine, said one rescue worker.
She did not have any injuries and did not look as if she had been under tons of concrete and dust, he added.
The Interior Ministry later said that Ayda’s mother was found dead by rescuers shortly after her child’s rescue.
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake, which struck Greece and Turkey last Friday, October 30 reportedly killed 102 people with over 1000 injured people.
