Earthquake in Turkey: 40-year-old woman dies a day after being freed from the debris

A woman died in hospital today, a day after she was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed house in southern Turkey, where she had been trapped for 104 hours, rescuers said.

German rescuers pulled 40-year-old Zeynep Kahraman from the ruins of an apartment building in the southern Turkish city of Kirihan on Friday, calling her rescue a “miracle”.

“We have just been informed by Zeynep’s brother and sister that she unfortunately died in the hospital. We have just informed the team that she has unfortunately ended up and we are now processing this in the team,” said Steven Bayer, the head of the German International Search and Rescue Team.

With some rescuers fighting back tears and consoling each other, the team doctor said the risks are very high in the first 48 hours after such a complex rescue.

“She was literally buried for 100 hours, basically. Not trapped, but buried,” explained Peter Kaub.

But he emphasized that the rescuers’ efforts were not in vain.

“To be able to die in the arms of your family and to be able to live your last moments…every second counts. Ten hours after we started he had his first human contact and was able to speak to the interpreter and to us, then even to her family. And in the end her family managed to keep her in their hands,” he added.

The woman’s family had earlier told Reuters that rescuers had arrived two days after the quake.

German rescuers made contact with the woman when she was buried deep in the rubble and kept her hydrated through a hose.

At one point they helped her sister down a ladder and approached where Zeynep was slumped to speak to her.

The total death toll from Monday’s earthquake in southern Turkey and northern Syria already exceeds 24,000.

RES-EMP

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