Rescuers rejoice as they pull out more survivors

Turkish rescue workers carry Ergin Guzeloglan, 36, to an ambulance after they pulled him out from the rubble of a collapsed building, five days after the earthquake in Hatay, southern Turkey, on Saturday. Pic/AP

Rescuers in Turkey pulled two more women alive from the rubble of collapsed buildings, after they had been trapped for 122 hours, authorities said on Saturday. The death toll exceeded 25,000 across southern Turkey and northwest Syria, a day after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said authorities should have reacted faster to Monday's huge earthquake.

Sixty-seven people had been clawed out from the rubble in the previous 24 hours, Vice President, Turkey, Fuat Oktay told reporters overnight, in efforts that drew in 31,000 rescuers across the affected region.

About 80,000 people were being treated in hospitals, while 1.05 million have been left homeless by the quakes, huddled in temporary shelters, he added. "Our main goal is to ensure that they return to a normal life by delivering permanent housing to them within one year, and that they heal from their pain as soon as possible," Oktay said.

Six relatives, huddled in a small air pocket, day after day. A desperate teenager grew so thirsty that he drank his own urine. Two frightened sisters were comforted by a pop song as they waited for rescuers to free them. These earthquake survivors were among more than a dozen people pulled out of the rubble alive after spending over four days trapped in frigid darkness, following the disaster that struck Turkey and Syria.

Also read: Turkey earthquake: NDRF, Turkish Army rescue 8-year-old girl in Nurdagi

Temperatures remained below freezing point across the large region, and many people have no shelter. The Turkish government has distributed millions of hot meals, as well as tents and blankets, but was still struggling to reach many people in need.

Earlier, the World Food Programme said it was running out of stocks in rebel-held northwest Syria as the state of war complicated relief efforts. Monday's 7.8-magnitude quake, with several powerful aftershocks across Turkey and Syria, ranks as the seventh-deadliest natural disaster this century.

On Friday, Erdogan visited Turkey's province of Adiyaman, where he acknowledged the government's response was not as fast as it could have been. "Although we have the largest search and rescue team in the world right now, it is a reality that search efforts are not as fast as we wanted them to be," he said.

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