Dutch rescue team saves boy, 8, in Turkey earthquake area after 106 hours
The Dutch search and rescue team USAR pulled an 8-year-old boy out from under the rubble of a building in Hatay, Turkey that collapsed as a result of the earthquakes in the region this week. The boy, Ibrahim, was conscious when he was rescued about 106 hours after the first major earthquake struck. He was transported from the scene by ambulance, USAR said on Twitter.
He was the 12th person rescued by the USAR team, who departed the Netherlands on Monday night, and arrived in Hatay on Tuesday morning. The USAR rescuers have been broken up into four rescue groups. They were scheduled to be deployed early Friday morning to search two sectors in Hatay, however they were not optimistic about finding survivors at the time. "Unfortunately, the chances of finding them are getting smaller and smaller," they said late Thursday night.
That tune changed after rescuing Ibrahim. "Together with local rescue workers, we freed him from his position. Good news for him, and it gives us lots of energy to continue with our job here," a USAR representative said on Twitter.
"Never give up," said USAR National Commander Arjen Littooij on Twitter. "We are still doing everything we can to save every life."
USAR is made up of a wide variety of individuals including doctors, nurses, dog handlers, active Dutch military, police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and engineers. Additionally, they also have support teams and managers. Several sniffer dogs have also been deployed to Turkey for the rescue effort.
Over 22,700 people in Turkey and Syria have died as a result of the earthquake early Monday morning, another severe earthquake later that day, and hundreds of aftershocks and smaller earthquakes. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late Friday afternoon that 19,388 people died in Turkey. An estimated 3,384 people also died in Syria. Some 75,000 injuries were also estimated by authorities.
