Published: Less than 20 min ago
GAZIANTEP. It’s a race against the clock.
Soon 72 critical hours have passed to find survivors.
In a crushed eight-story building, the rescue team has just heard three voices.
It’s starting to get below zero when the sun is about to set in Gaziantep.
About 30 rescue workers stand on a pile of rubble. A pile that on Sunday was an eight-story apartment building. A mattress, a flowery tablecloth and something purple fluffy that resembles a stuffed animal sticks out from the crushed concrete.
It is day three and over 11,000 people have died after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
The WHO fears that number could be much higher, around 20,000 deaths.
The first 72 hours are considered critical. After that, the chances of finding survivors decrease. At the same time, it is minus degrees in the evenings and nights.
“Don’t know if there are survivors”
A white high-rise a little further down the street is partly demolished and leaning heavily. About four floors at the bottom are crushed. In one gable, half the wall is gone and you can see straight into a kitchen. A yellow washing-up liquid bottle and colorful plastic boxes on the drying rack of the kitchen counter.
– We do not know if there are survivors. But we hope, we must hope, says a rescue worker.
Two people were pulled out of the rubble, but not alive. Shortly thereafter, the search was terminated.
A distraught woman sits on a sidewalk with loved ones around her, loses consciousness and falls.
– Mother, mother. Ambulance please, a young woman shouts before her mother wakes up again.
Wiping each other’s tears
In a white tent next door, a group of women are sitting and crying, hugging and wiping each other’s tears.
Three houses away on the same street, the battle against time is on. A few hours ago, the team drilled into the rock, listened and heard voices, probably three. A cheer broke out.
It is just before 6 p.m. when a man in a yellow helmet and white megaphone shouts out to the hundreds of locals who are holding their breath waiting for word.
– Quiet everyone, please be quiet.
The whole street is silent. Excavators, cranes and electrical units are switched off.
It’s dead quiet for minutes. On the pile of rubble they listen for cries to know where they are going.
– Come, come, here, an aid worker on the wreck shouts to a colleague on the ground.
An orange stretcher is sent up. A young man has been pulled up. He is alive and being taken down to the ambulance which is ready.
Fires in barrels
There are still lots of people on the street. Fires are lit in barrels and it stings the eyes and nose. People gather around to warm themselves.
The search effort continues. Two more people are believed to be trapped under the debris.
The time is 19.08. There are only hours left in the first critical phase when the man in the megaphone shouts:
– Quiet, everyone must be quiet now.