Woman rescued from Turkish collapse rubble
A 23-year-old woman was found alive in the rubble of an apartment building in central Turkey today, seven days after the building collapsed, private NTV television reported.
Rescue workers were trying to free Yasemin Yaprakci from the rubble, NTV reported, adding that the woman was “fine” except her foot was trapped in the debris.
Teams pulled a 16-year-old boy from the debris yesterday, a teenager who survived almost six days under the rubble shrouded in pulverised concrete that kept him warm.
He slept often, which slowed his metabolism.
At least 75 people died in the collapse.
Muhammet Kalem was the first survivor to be pulled from the wreckage in almost five days and his father, Ahmet, had so little hope of seeing his son again that he had already dug his grave.
The 11-floor building in central Turkey collapsed last Monday. Twenty-nine survivors were pulled from the wreckage, but the last to be pulled out alive was rescued on Tuesday.
Rescuers found 12 more bodies in the ruins yesterday.
“I kept hearing the voices of rescuers,” Kalem told reporters after being pulled from the wreckage covered in a white film of dust that was mostly crushed concrete.
“I tried not to lose hope thinking they would eventually find me. I fell asleep from time to time.”
Kalem had bloody cuts on his face and body when he was pulled out and was rushed to a hospital for observation.
His doctor, Riza Saribabicci, said Kalem was in good condition but is expected to spend the night in an intensive care unit for observation.
Saribabicci said Kalem’s survival with no food or water for almost six days was astonishing.
“It is beyond my imagination,” Saribabicci said.
Most people can survive only about two days without water, Saribabicci said. By sleeping instead of struggling, Kalem was able to reduce his need for water, Saribabicci said.
The shroud of rubble covering his body also kept him warm through the freezing nights of Konya.
Omer Cevikbas, the head of the rescue team, said he saw the boy’s eyes through a crack.
“We saw that a plastic pipe was moving,” Cevikbas said. “When I looked down from an opening, I saw his eyes. It was amazing.
“He asked what day it was and told us he was hungry and thirsty. “
Kalem’s father, Ahmet, was shocked to learn his son had survived.
“I had lost all hope, I still cannot believe it,” he said. “I thought I would be burying him.”
Ahmet Kalem’s wife and older son were still missing .
Some 40 other people are still missing and Kalem’s rescue raised hopes that other survivors may be found. But rescuers said they were mostly looking to recover bodies.
Officials have blamed the collapse on shoddy construction and a Turkish court on Friday charged two contractors with negligence for ignoring building codes.
The building, which was only five years old and considered upscale in Konya, collapsed like an accordion, one floor on top of the other.
