Miracle girl, 9, pulled uninjured from rubble after 60 hours trapped as death toll from Turkey-Syria earthquake passes 16,000
9 February 2023, 09:10 | Updated: 9 February 2023, 09:21
A nine-year-old girl has been pulled unharmed from the rubble of her apartment block in Turkey, as the soaring death toll from the disastrous earthquake, described as "Armageddon", surpasses 16,000.
Pulled from the flattened building in Antakya after enduring 60 hours in sub-zero conditions, the rescuers were also able to locate and rescue her 13-year-old brother and father, with her mother yet to be located.
Antakya marked the epicentre of the earthquake, with countless buildings reduced to piles of rubble.
It follows the news at least 16,035 people have lost their lives across Turkey and Syria, 12,873 of whom are known to have died in Turkey and 3,162 in Syria.
Rescuers have now warned “time is running out” as the hunt for survivors continues, with UK-based Muslim charity SKT Welfare adding that “people are losing that window where they might still survive if they are stuck under the rubble”.
Atiqur Rahman, a British aid worker from Global Relief Trust filmed the scene as the rescue took place during the early hours of Thursday morning.
“It’s Armageddon here,“ he announced, adding: “Now it’s 64/65 hours since the earthquake, the chances of people coming out alive is very low."
"But you have these amazing... people manage to get into gaps," he added speaking to The Mirror.
“There was some noise coming from this family under the rubble, and some relatives stood outside as they knew the family was there."
Read more: Earthquake death toll passes 5,000 as rescue efforts go on in Turkey and Syria
Emergency services have been working in temperatures of -4 searching for survivors of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which hit Turkey and Syria on Monday morning.
The official death toll in Turkey is currently higher than that of neighbouring Syria, a factor that's been attributed to the lack of access to the war-torn region by rescue teams.
Neighbouring nation Syria's UN ambassador yesterday conceded the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the country mean the government has a "lack of capabilities and a lack of equipment".
The figures followed comments by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who said: "We know that three British nationals are missing and the Foreign Office's Crisis Response Hub is working to support the at least 35 British nationals who have been directly affected by these earthquakes.
"We assess that the likelihood of large-scale British casualties remains low."
The figures followed comments by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who said: "We know that three British nationals are missing and the Foreign Office's Crisis Response Hub is working to support the at least 35 British nationals who have been directly affected by these earthquakes.
"We assess that the likelihood of large-scale British casualties remains low."
Mr Cleverly told MP's the Turkish government has requested international aid "on a scale that matches the enormity of the situation that they are facing".
He said: "Across the region inhabited by more than 12 million people, more than 6,000 buildings have collapsed. Electricity and gas infrastructure has been severely damaged.
"Many of the 3.5 million Syrian refugees hosted by Turkey reside in the affected provinces. Turkey's outstanding disaster relief response capability has been severely tested by the sheer scale of this catastrophe.
"The Turkish government has declared a state of emergency and they are requesting international assistance on a scale that matches the enormity of the situation that they are facing.
"Turkey will lead the disaster relief response in the areas of Syria where it has the presence."
