Discovered under concrete slabs and whispering “inshallah” (God willing), rescuers carefully reached into the rubble, then passed down the line their prize – a 10-day-old newborn who survived four days with his mother in the collapsed building.
His eyes wide open, Turkish baby Yagiz Ulas was wrapped in a shiny thermal blanket and carried to a field medical centre in Samandag, Hatay province, on Friday. Emergency workers also carried his mother, dazed and pale but conscious, on a stretcher, video images from Turkey’s disaster agency showed.
The rescue of a number of small children has lifted the spirits of weary crews searching for survivors on the fifth day after a major earthquake struck Turkey and neighbouring Syria, killing more than 21,000 people.