In a miracle, a dog has been found alive underneath rubble one week after a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Turkiye. In the hard-hit region of Kahramanmaras, rescue workers found a dog under the rubble, reported the news agency AFP.
AFP posted a minute-and-a-half-long video from the ground showcasing the rescue.
As the clean-up operation continues, rescuers comfort a dog found still alive after having been trapped under the rubble in Kahramanmaras, a week after the earthquake struck southeastern Turkey and neighbouring Syria pic.twitter.com/KFHkVI0S9e
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 14, 2023
In the video, a very thin dog, that appears to be a golden retriever, can be seen shaking out of fear while the rescuers try to comfort him by petting and gently rubbing their hands on the body of the dog. The rescuers even tried to give some food to the dog after looking at his condition however he wasn’t able to do anything other than shake uncontrollably.
Heavy machinery was seen being used to remove the debris of the buildings, in hope that some other being that might be trapped under it could be saved. Despite the rare rescues, thousands of bodies were being removed from toppled buildings, and experts say the chances of finding survivors are increasingly slim.
The confirmed death toll stood at more than 36,000 for the two nations and was expected to rise in coming days.
During a visit to Aleppo in northern Syria on Monday, United Nations aid chief Martin Griffith said the rescue phase is “coming to a close” and attention is now turning to providing food, shelter, schooling and psychosocial care, according to the Reuters news service.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that alliance members have agreed to provide shelter facilities “as soon as possible” to help accommodate people displaced by the earthquakes. Thousands of emergency response personnel have been supporting the recovery, including search and rescue teams, firefighters, medical personnel and seismic experts, he said.
The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 quakes struck nine hours apart in southeastern Turkiye and northern Syria on Feb. 6. Scores of strong aftershocks added to the damage as more than 6,000 buildings collapsed.
(With agency inputs)
