The 40-year-old woman died in hospital a day after she was rescued from under the rubble of a collapsed building in southern Turkey.
WATCH: The joy after Zeynep’s miracle rescue was great, a day later bad news follows:
A team of German rescuers was able to free 40-year-old Zeynep Kahraman from under the rubble in the hard-hit city of Kirikhan in southern Turkey on Friday. The woman was trapped between the bodies of her deceased child and her husband for more than 100 hours.
It is the leader of that search and rescue team who announced the news of her death. “We just heard from the brother and sister that Zeynep sadly passed away in hospital,” said German Steven Bayer. “We have just informed the team that she has sadly passed away and are now processing this.” According to rescue doctor Peter Kaub, the risks are greatest in the first 48 hours after such complicated rescue operations. “She was buried for over 100 hours. She was not stuck, she was really buried,” he emphasizes.
“Died in the arms of family”
However, all of the team’s efforts have not been in vain, he says. “Every second counts when it means someone can die in the arms of family,” he says. Zeynep had been under the rubble for two days when the German team started the rescue operation. “Ten hours later she had her first human contact and was able to talk to the interpreter and the rescue team. After that she was even able to talk to her family, and finally her family was able to hold her in their arms.”
More than 24,000 victims have already been recovered
The death toll from Monday’s earthquakes in southeastern Turkey and Syria has now risen above 24,000. Turkey reports 20,665 deaths on Saturday morning, more than 450 more than the number recorded on Friday. In Syria, 3,384 deaths were reported on Friday, according to local media.
According to the Turkish disaster agency AFAD, 93,000 people have been evacuated from the disaster area. Some 166,000 rescue workers there provide emergency aid to victims. Since the two strong earthquakes early Monday morning, almost 1,900 aftershocks have been counted, according to AFAD.
READ ALSO: Our reporter in the hardest hit region of Turkey: “This is beyond the madness. The whole city is uninhabitable”(+)
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.