Stories of hope, heartbreak emerge after destructive earthquakes kill thousands in Turkey and Syria

Rescue and recovery efforts in Turkey and Syria have been happening around the clock since powerful earthquakes shook the two countries, bringing down buildings and burying thousands of people inside the homes where they slept.

But emergency officials and aid workers know time is limited to save people who may still be alive.

"It's a race against time because the weather is so, so cold. It's been raining. It's been snowing. There have been heavy rains, heavy winds and the temperatures are below zero. So we need to find people as soon as possible because people are stuck under [the] rubbles," Hombeline Dulière, of the British charity Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, told Reuters news agency. Crews of rescue workers and volunteers are digging through mounds of crumbled concrete across southern Turkey and northern Syria, trying to reach anyone who may have survived beneath collapsed buildings.

As the death toll climbs further into the thousands, stories are emerging from survivors, of both heartbreak and hope against the odds. 
 

Rescuing the most vulnerable

In Syria, an infant who was reportedly born underneath the rubble was pulled to safety in the northwestern town of Jinderes, an area controlled by opposition rebels. The baby girl was found with her umbilical cord attached to her mother, who did not survive.

She was taken to a hospital, in the city of Afrin, where she is receiving care.

Read More (...)