Mallika Dureja
Search and rescue teams amazingly found more survivors in the ruins of the Feb. 6 earthquake that devastated swaths of Turkey and Syria even as the death toll from worst disaster in modern Turkish history increased.
Here’s a look at the key developments Saturday from the aftermath of the earthquake.
DEATH TOLL IN TURKEY PASSES 40,000
The president of Turkey’s disaster and emergency management agency, Yunus Sezer, said the number of earthquake deaths in the country has grown to 40,642.
The new figure takes the combined death toll in Turkey and Syria to 44,330. The U.N. has said the full scope of the deaths in Syria may take time to determine.
THREE RESCUED IN HARD-HIT HATAY PROVINCE
A couple and their son were extracted from under an apartment building in Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, on the 13th day of rescue operations, although the child later died.
The three were transferred to ambulances after spending 296 hours buried under the Kanatli apartment building in the center of the city, local TV reported. Footage showed medics fixing an IV drip to the man’s arm as he lay on a stretcher.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency identified the family as Samir Muhammed Accar, 49, his wife, Ragda, 40, and their 12-year-old son.
The bodies of two other children were also found in the rubble, reports said, quoting a member of a Kyrgyz rescue team.
Hatay was one of the worst hit of the 11 provinces in the Turkish disaster zone.
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MISSING SOCCER PLAYER’S BODY FOUND
Christian Atsu, a Ghanaian soccer player who played internationally, was found dead in the rubble of a building that fell during the earthquake, his manager said Saturday.
The 31-year-old soccer star, who played for Hatayspor in the Turkish Super Lig, was found in what was left of a 12-story luxury building in Antakya. This is the same city where the Accar family was found.
“The dead body of Atsu was found under the rubble. The player’s manager, Murat Uzunmehmet, told a private Turkish news agency, DHA, that the player’s things are still being taken away.
Atsu played for Chelsea, Newcastle United, Everton, and Bournemouth, all of which are in the English Premier League. He joined Hatayspor at the end of last year.
The club in Turkey said that his body was being sent back to Ghana. The club tweeted, “There are no words to describe how sad we are.”
A day after the earthquake, there were reports that Atsu was pulled alive from the rubble of a building that had collapsed and taken to a hospital for treatment. A few days later, though, the club said that both Atsu and Taner Savut, the club’s sports director, were still missing. No one has found Savut.
