Turkish quake survivor asks for family after miracle rescue

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Emotional video and photos show a man who was buried alive for more than 10 days under Turkey’s earthquake rubble ask about his family — and meet his newborn daughter for the first time — after being rescued.

“How is my mother and everyone?” miracle survivor Mustafa Avci, 33, can first be heard quizzing his friend over the phone in the footage shared online by Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

Just moments before the phone call, Avci was pulled from the ruins of a private hospital in Turkey’s Hatay province Thursday night– more than 260 hours after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated the area Feb. 6, killing 43,000-plus people in the country and neighboring Syria.

Pictured on a stretcher and wearing a neck brace, the married new dad appears slightly wild-eyed as he asks his friend for more updates on his loved ones.

“Did everyone escape … OK? Let me hear their voices if for a moment,” Avci implores.

The survivor’s friend, who has not been named, is emotional as he reassures Avci that everyone is fine.


Mustafa Avci speaks to a friend after being rescued Thursday night.
Mustafa Avci speaks to a friend after being rescued Thursday night.
Turkish Health Minister

“Everyone is well. … They are all waiting for you. … I am coming to you,” the pal says. “I am driving. … I am coming to you. … Brother, I am coming.”

Avci then kisses the hand of the rescuer holding the phone to his ear.

“May God be happy with you a thousand times,” he tells the person.


Avci greets his wife, Bilge, and meets his baby daughter Almile for the first time after being rescued.
Avci greets his wife, Bilge, and meets his baby daughter Almile for the first time after being rescued.
REUTERS

Heartwarming photos show Avci later met his newborn daughter, Almile, for the first time after being rescued.

The dad was found Thursday night alongside another man, Mehmet Ali Sakiroglu, 26.

Speaking to CNN after the extraordinary rescue, Sakiroglu’s father said his son was at the hospital for a check-up when the earthquake hit. It’s unclear why Avci was at the medical center.

The pair were found when rescuers spotted a leg dangling from the ruins after a machine cleared surface debris.


People stand on top of rubble of collapsed buildings during rescue operations in Hatay.
People stand on top of the rubble of collapsed buildings during rescue operations in Hatay.
AFP via Getty Images

According to Koca, both men were taken to a makeshift hospital for treatment.

The pair’s rescue came two days after brothers Muhammed Enes Yeninar, 17, and Baki Yeninar, 21, were among nine people pulled alive from the rubble of an apartment complex in Kahramanmaras.

Baki later told rescuers that he survived the nearly 200-hour ordeal by drinking protein powder.


Mehmet Ali Sakiroglu was rescued alongside Avci.
Mehmet Ali Sakiroglu was rescued alongside Avci.
Turkish Health Minister

The latest official estimates put the death toll from the horrific earthquake at 43,885. As searches for survivors grow increasingly desperate, CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta noted that it is rare for people to survive more than 100 hours trapped.

“These are remarkable stories, and people rise up … in these situations,” Gupta said of the survivors.

Nearly two weeks after the initial earthquake, donations continue to pour in from across the world as thousands of survivors in Turkey and Syria are struggling with homelessness in frigid winter conditions.


Avci survived over 260 hours under the rubble.
Avci survived more than 260 hours under the rubble.
REUTERS

At a briefing in Geneva on Wednesday, the World Health Organization’s emergencies director, Mike Ryan, expressed particular concerns about delivering aid to rebel-controlled regions in Syria.

“It’s clear that the zone of greatest concern at the moment is the area of north-western Syria,” he said.


Aerial photo shows the destruction in Hatay city center.
An aerial photo shows the destruction in Hatay’s city center.
AP

According to CNN, delivering aid to the region has been complicated by the terms of the 2014 UN Security Council resolution that allows assistance to enter the country at only four points on the Turkish border.

Ryan reminded the public that Syria has been through “10 years of war” and that the health system remains “amazingly fragile.

“People have been through hell, and [the earthquake is] the latest both physical and psychological strain on an already stressed population,” he explained of Syria.



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