248 hours after earthquake, Turkish teen rescued from rubble
Aleyna Olmez, a 17-year-old girl in Kahramanmaras miraculously survived under the rubble of a collapsed building for nearly 11 days.
As hopes fade for the thousands still missing in the aftermath of Turkey's earthquakes to be found alive and rescue teams shift their efforts toward recovery, a group of strong-willed rescuers pulled a 17-year-old girl alive from the rubble on Thursday after she was trapped for nearly 11 days.
Several teams worked for hours on the collapsed building in Kahramanmaras to save the survivor, who was identified as Aleyna Olmez by the Turkish press.
A rescuer on the scene told Turkey’s Demiroren News Agency, “We’ve always believed that there is hope. We’ve not given up hope for even a moment.” Another added, “We’ve been tired but reaching Aleyna has made us forget our tiredness.” Kahramanmaras was the epicenter of the killer 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude quakes that struck the country’s south just nine hours apart.
Aleyna was seen as she was carried to an ambulance by emergency workers, covered by a thermal blanket and receiving intravenous fluids.
