Key Points
- A 17-year-old has been rescued alive after spending 248 hours trapped under rubble.
- Her name is Aleyna Ölmez.
- Rescue efforts continue in Türkiye's Kahramanmaras region.
A 17-year-old girl has been rescued from rubble more than 10 days after a series of powerful earthquakes struck Türkiye and Syria.
Aleyna Ölmez was rescued from a building that collapsed in the southern central province of Kahramanmaras 248 hours after the magnitude 7.8 quake.
She has been taken to hospital by ambulance.
"She looked to be in good health. She opened and closed her eyes," coal miner Ali Akdogan said after participating in the rescue of Ms Ölmez in Kahramanmaras, a city near the quake's epicentre.
The number of deaths from powerful earthquakes that struck last Monday has risen to 36,187 in Türkiye, the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said on Thursday.
AFAD added that more than 4,300 aftershocks had hit the disaster zone since the initial massive tremor.
Millions of people are in need of humanitarian aid, with many survivors having been left homeless in near-freezing winter temperatures.
Search and rescue efforts took place across Türkiye and Syria following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Source: EPA / STR
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday it was particularly concerned by the welfare of people in northwestern Syria, a rebel-held region with little access to aid. It asked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to open more border crossing points with Türkiye to allow aid to get through.
