AGAINST ALL ODDS

Amid the Rubble Miraculous Tales of Survival Emerge as Death Toll Reaches 25,000

As the death toll in the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria rises to 25,000, there continues to be unbelievable stories of survival.

More than 25,000 are now confirmed dead in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake Monday on the border of Turkey and Syria. Yet, miraculous stories of survivors being found amid the rubble continue to emerge—including at least twelve on Saturday alone. The Saturday survivors included a family-of-four that was rescued in the Gaziantep Province after surviving ien their collapsed home since the initial quake. Hours later, rescuers saved a three-year-old and her father nearby. Just south of that, they also rescued a seven-year-old in the Hatay Province. Just eastward, rescuers carried a 70-year-old woman out of the rubble to a waiting ambulance, as well as retrieving a 55-year-old woman from a collapsed building in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Southeast Turkey. Meanwhile, officials announced Saturday that Turkey has detained over 100 people allegedly involved in designing or constructing the collapsed buildings that failed to meet safety codes put into place after a similarly-devastating quake in 1999. Rescuers are also concerned about the rise in violence, with rescuers reporting gunshots and an increase in looting. As the efforts of 31,000 rescuers continue, 80,000 survivors are in the hospital and 1.05 million have been left homeless by the disaster.