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Two days after the earthquake off the coast of Izmir, rescue teams are working at full speed to rescue the survivors from the rubble. More recently, they were able to save a three-year-old girl, but time is running out.
By Karin Senz, ARD-Studio Istanbul, currently. Smyrna
In Izmir, on the western coast of Turkey, the chances of finding the victims of Friday’s severe earthquake alive are diminishing. According to official figures, 81 people died in Greece and Turkey and around 1,000 were injured.
But the helpers still manage to pull people alive from the rubble. A three-year-old girl was rescued 65 hours after the severe earthquake in Turkey. “We rescued our three-year-old Elif in Izmir alive from the rubble after 65 hours. We are here until we get to the last one,” civil protection agency Afad wrote on Twitter.
A few hours earlier, Izmir rescuers had found a survivor on the third night after the earthquake. They discovered the 14-year-old girl after 58 hours, Turkish media report.
However, 72 hours after an earthquake, the chances are slim, experts say. The countdown is on.
Another survivor found
Tracking dog Mavi was successful on Friday and helped locate an injured person. Meanwhile, the hotels in the metropolis have launched a solidarity campaign. If you cannot return to your apartment, you can stay with them first.
Mavi runs around a fenced-in sports field in Izmir. The black lab is on a break. It is one of the sniffer dogs used around the corner in a collapsed house. Mavi is five years old and follows her lover every word. It doesn’t bark, only when it smells something in the rubble, like on Friday afternoon shortly after the earthquake. In fact, a survivor was later found there.
Ebru is Mavi’s dog trainer. “I see the children’s clothes, their books, everything is messed up. I pray all the time,” he says. In the ruins of the house where he works with his sniffer dog, children are still suspected in a dental office on the first floor. The dentist’s fiancee is waiting in front of the house.
“Some people have the crisis, which is very understandable. There are so many emotions involved,” says Ebru. They are just trying to help. “Hopefully we can still find survivors.”
Between hope and fear
Mavi sits very well beside him and looks up intently, as if the Labrador knows what his mistress was talking about. A few yards down the street, Neysla is sitting with her children, parents, and aunts in front of a tent on a blanket. Here they spent the night. His house is still there, but he cannot return. “Sooner or later we will have to go home, but only when I am no longer so afraid,” says the mother. Right now she is so psychologically abused that she doesn’t even dare to leave the house. “It was that bad.”
Her little nephew is still buried there, the 32-year-old says. “Hopefully everyone is saved alive. We pray for that,” he says. Your life unfolds between hope and fear. Helpers pulled a man out of the rubble yesterday. Then they found a woman dead. “It’s a constant up and down,” says Neysla.
Hotel rooms for the homeless
President Recep Erdogan was in Izmir on Saturday night. Neysla would have liked to see him, but couldn’t communicate. She is very grateful for all the help. “We are well cared for. I thank our state, God protect it,” he says. His family lacks nothing. They would have gotten blankets and diapers for the little ones. There are helpers everywhere.
Sadik Öztürk is someone who also just helps. The 72-year-old has two small, simple hotels in Izmir. He’s sitting in his little office by the entrance. Together with colleagues, he started a solidarity campaign. Those who have lost their roof over their heads can live with them first.
“You can have breakfast if you want. We don’t charge anything for it,” says the restaurateur. He and his colleagues just want to do something good. At the moment they have welcomed 42 people. And if so many returned, they would receive even more. “Whoever is homeless can come and stay in our hotels.”
Better prepared than in 1999
In the green areas of the affected districts of Izmir, the helpers quickly built an infrastructure. There are tents, Dixi toilets and popular dining rooms. Cihan came with a post from the administration of the city of Kocaeli, near Istanbul. Serve hot tea while remembering the 1999 Istanbul earthquake that killed thousands.
“This is now perfectly organized. In 1999 you were not prepared for anything,” he says. At that time, no real rescue organization existed. Now there are emergency services in every province, in every city and in every district that are ready at any time. Points to a collapsed house; There are currently 150 professional service assistants there. In Istanbul, at the time, there was a maximum of three to five per building, he says.
Cihan had witnessed the terrible earthquake in 1999. He still shakes his head in disbelief. With the current disaster, Turkey is better prepared. “There are helpers from all over the country, from Ordu to Adana and Erzurum,” says Cihan.
The chances are diminishing
Ebru, the dog handler, has also experienced earthquakes. He was buried and found 25 years ago. That has motivated her to do her volunteer work in Izmir. “It was the first time I went up to a collapsed building as a helper, previously only as an earthquake survivor,” he says. You were not afraid. “For 25 years I felt the need to help. That is why I am happy now.”
Mavi, her black Lab, is allowed a little rest until the next task. However, the chances that it will strike again and smell people buried in the rubble are decreasing hour by hour.
