Faces of hope among the heartbreak: The children saved from earthquake rubble in Turkey and Syria

Tales of rescue have brought light where hopelessness reigns

Hope and heartbreak dominate the stories of the millions of children caught in the catastrophic earthquake which has killed more than 11,700 in Turkey and Syria.

Search teams from more than two dozen countries have joined tens of thousands of local emergency personnel in the hunt for survivors. But the scale of destruction from the earthquake and its powerful aftershocks was so immense and spread over such a wide area that many people are still awaiting help.

With thousands of buildings toppled, it was not clear how many people might still be caught in the rubble.

Freezing cold temperatures are hindering rescue teams as they work to save people (IHA)

While overwhelmed emergency teams worked through close-to-freezing temperatures, unrelenting rainfall, and power outages, images of dust-choked and shell-shocked children being dragged alive from the debris have brought light where hopelessness reigns.

They include a baby, born under the rubble, who was rescued from under a collapsed building in Syria. Siblings, wedged between the blasted concrete walls of the family home, lifted the infant to safety.

For some being rescued, they are the lone survivors of their families or remain unidentified. Others cling in desperation to their surviving parents, siblings and neighbours.

A newborn girl rescued from underneath a flattened building in the small town of Jinderis, next to the Turkish border on Tuesday, was the only member of her family to survive the building collapse.

The baby rescued from the rubble is the last surviving member of her family (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The baby was found under the debris with her umbilical cord still connected to her mother, who was found dead.

Jinderis saw another dramatic rescue on Monday evening when a toddler was pulled alive from the wreckage of a collapsed building. Video from the White Helmets, a civil defence group, shows a rescuer digging through crushed concrete and twisted metal until the little girl, named Nour, was found.

In Besnaya-Bseineh, a small village in Haram, two children stuck under the concrete remains of their home were rescued after enduring a freezing 36-hour wait.

Mariam, the elder sibling, was found gently stroking her younger brother’s head as they lie wedged between what appears to be the remains of their bed and a collapsed concrete wall.

Siblings, wedged between the blasted concrete walls of the family home, were rescued from their collapsed home (Twitter)

She was able to move her arm just enough to cover her brother’s face, offering some protection from the great clouds of dust billowing from the cluster of fallen buildings.

Caught under the wreckage of their home, Al-Sayed said his family recited the Quran and prayed out loud that someone would find them.

“People heard us, and we were rescued – me, my wife and the children. Thank God, we are all alive and we thank those who rescued us,” he said.

Nearly two days after the quake, rescuers pulled a three-year-old boy, Arif Kaan, from under the rubble of a collapsed apartment block in Kahramanmaras, which is not far from the earthquake’s epicentre.

(AP)

With the boy’s lower body trapped under slabs of concrete and twisted rebar, emergency crews lay a blanket over his torso to protect him from the below-freezing temperatures as they carefully cut the debris away from him, mindful of the possibility of triggering another collapse.

The boy’s father, Ertugrul Kisi, who was rescued earlier, sobbed as his son was pulled free and put in an ambulance.

“For now, the name of hope in Kahramanmaras is Arif Kaan,” a Turkish television reporter proclaimed as the dramatic rescue was broadcast to the country.

A few hours later, rescuers pulled 10-year-old Betul Edis from the rubble of her home in the city of Adiyaman. Accompanied by a wave of applause from onlookers, her grandfather kissed her and spoke softly to her as she was put in an ambulance.

With agencies