Men Pulled Out Alive 11 Days After Quakes In Miracle Rescue
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
ISTANBUL (Worthy News) – Rescue workers in Turkey have pulled at least three men from the rubble, more than 11 days after they were trapped when a string of massive earthquakes hit the country and neighboring Syria, officials say.
Hakan Yasinoglu had been stuck under a flattened building in the hard-hit Hatay province for 278 long hours when workers reached him on Friday.
Teenager Osman Halebiye and Mustafa Avci, 34, were also saved in Antakya. “I had completely lost all hope. This is a true miracle,” Avci’s father told the Reuters news agency.
“I thought nobody could be saved alive from there,” he added. Avci’s daughter was just a few hours old when the quake struck, and as he was loaded onto a stretcher by paramedics, he was connected with his child via video call.
His wife, Bilge Avci, managed to avoid the earthquake’s devastation and escaped with their child. But Avci reportedly got trapped under the rubble. The Avci couple – and baby Almile – were reunited late on Friday at a hospital in the southern city of Mersin.
There have been more emotional reunions in a region where the earthquake also destroyed churches and other religious sites.
But between the death and destruction of earthquakes that killed more than 46,000, at least some still believe in miracles.
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