Two people were rescued on Saturday after being pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay, southern Turkey, 13 days after an earthquake hit the area, killing more than 43,000 people.
Nearly 300 hours after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6, the chances of finding survivors are dwindling by the day.
It is the region’s deadliest natural disaster in centuries.
Turkish rescue teams throughout the week found survivors long trapped under rubble in freezing temperatures.
But the number of these survivors has been reduced to a handful in recent days.
One of those killed is former Ghana international Christian Atsu, whose body was found under a collapsed building in the city of Antakya.
His death was confirmed by Murat Uzunmehmet, his agent in Turkey, quoted by Turkey’s private agency DHA, ending nearly two weeks of concern and searches for the 31-year-old footballer’s loved ones.
The state-run Anadolu Agency broadcast pictures of the rescue of the survivors found on Saturday.
It shows a man and woman stretchered after being trapped in the rubble of Antakya for 296 hours, as well as a child who died minutes after efforts to rescue him, according to the agency.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca released video of the 40-year-old woman at a field hospital while she is being treated.
“She is conscious,” he tweeted.
On Friday, a 45-year-old man was pulled from the rubble several hours after three other survivors, including a 14-year-old boy, were still alive under the rubble.
The enthusiastic reactions of witnesses on the ground in the last few days after each rescue have subsided.
On Friday, Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said rescue efforts continued at around 200 locations as teams raced against time to find more survivors.
The earthquake, which occurred in one of the most active seismic zones in the world, hit inhabited areas where buildings could not withstand such strong tremors.
Officials and doctors said 39,672 people in Turkey and 3,688 in Syria died in the disaster, raising the confirmed total of 43,360 dead.
The drama puts Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan under great pressure over slow rescues and construction defects.
In 1999, authorities promised to tighten building codes after an earthquake in north-west Turkey killed more than 17,000 people.
The building where footballer Atsu died, a 12-story luxury building, was constructed in 2013 when Turkey had stricter building standards.
Turkish police have since arrested the builder when he tried to flee the country, Anadolu reported last week.
Police have also arrested dozens of contractors as the government promises to crack down on lax construction standards.
More than 84,000 buildings have collapsed, urgently need to be demolished or were badly damaged in the quake, said Turkish Environment Minister Murat Kurum on Friday.
One of the hardest hit regions is Antakya, an ancient crossroads of civilizations.
Optician Cuneyt Eroglu, 45, searches the rubble of his Kubat eyewear store. The city has suffered several earthquakes – almost one every 100 years – and is no stranger to rebuilding.
“We’ll clean up here and get on with our lives,” he said between his writhing horses.
The street that runs in front of his shop has not yet been cleared of rubble and bent metal structures.
Eroglu, whose family escaped the earthquake, is now living in a tent in a village outside of Antakya. “It would not be fair to leave Antakya,” he said.