Turkey Earthquake Survivors Rescued After 100 Hours Buried Alive

Even amid the tragedy of the earthquake in Eastern Turkey that has so far claimed the lives of more than 600 people, stories of hope emerge.

Two survivors – a 13 year-old boy and an 18 year-old – were pulled alive from the rubble of the devastated area after more than four days buried.

Serhat Tokay was pulled from the ruins of an apartment building in the town of Eccris, which bore the brunt of last week’s 7.2 magnitude quake.

Also rescued a few hours earlier was Imdat Padak, who apart from suffering dehydration, was pulled alive and well from another wrecked building by cheering rescue workers.

According to the Daily Mail, 13 year-old Serhat helped to dig himself out of the collapsed building using a rock and was miraculously discovered after rescuers told his father there was ‘no hope’ of finding him alive.

The boy, Serhat Tokay, had been working in a shoe shop in the building. He was put in a neck brace and taken on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.

His uncle Sahin said his nephew had placed shoes under his head and used them as a pillow to sleep, peering through a tiny gap to distinguish between day and night.
He added: ‘He was hungry on the first day, but the hunger pangs later disappeared. He drank rain water to keep him alive.’

Serhat was the second person to be found within a matter of hours after a severely dehydrated Imdat Padak, 18, was brought out on Thursday evening to cheers among grief-stricken survivors.