Photo: Stringer
In dramatic scenes, a 3-year-old girl has been pulled from the rubble alive in Turkey after being trapped in a collapsed building caused by an earthquake 65 hours earlier. Elif Perincek was pulled out by rescue teams who have been scouring for survivors since the earthquake struck in the Bayrakli district of western Izmir province on Friday.
The little girl's family had already been rescued from the rubble after 23 hours trapped. This included her mother and her two 10-year-old twin siblings. Sadly, her brother, who was only 7 has since died of his injuries.
Elif was the 106th person to be pulled from rubble since the earthquake struck on Friday. Current reports state that a 7 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Izmir and has so far resulted in 91 deaths, including 2 teenagers who died on the Greek island of Samos when a wall collapsed on top of them.
The quake caused buildings to collapse and infrastructure to be severely damaged. Plumes of smoke could be seen billowing into the sky in the city of Izmir as a result of these collapses. The port of Samos was hit by a tsunami type wave, causing hundreds to run for safety in higher ground. The quake was so strong it could even be felt in Athens and Ankara.
Muammer Celik, who assisted in Elif's rescue told reporters:
"Elif held my finger […] I cleaned dust on her face. That child deserves to live to the end."
Tolga Unsel, a paramedic who took Elif to hospital, added:
"While we were taking her from our first aid tent to our ambulance, she was holding the finger of one of our UMKE members. I mean she was in good condition. We also got information from hospital. She was in intensive care for precautionary purposes."
Turkey and Greece are well known hotspots for earthquakes as they lie on the meeting of two tectonic plates. While many modern buildings in these countries are designed to withstand strong earthquakes, older buildings are still susceptible to collapse. In 1999, a large earthquake hit the city of Izmit in north-western Turkey killing 17,000 people, and in January of this year a quake hit the Turkish city of Elazığ killing over 40.
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