More babies saved from the rubble in Turkey and Syria

More babies saved from the rubble in Turkey and Syria six days on from earthquake as death toll hits 33,000

• A further 93,000 people have been injured since the two huge earthquakes
• Youngsters as young as seven months old were hauled from ruins of buildings
• Read more: Moment nurses stabilise shaking baby cots as tremors hit hospital

Rescuers continued to pull out children alive from rubble in Turkey and Syria yesterday – six days on from the devastating earthquakes.

At least 33,000 people have died with a further 93,000 people injured since two huge quakes – one a magnitude of 7.8 – struck the border region between the two countries on Monday.

Experts fear that the final death toll could surpass 50,000, but amazingly youngsters as young as seven months old were hauled from the ruins of collapsed buildings over the weekend, with some having endured up to 150 hours underground.

The young survivors included ten-year-old Cudi, who was dragged out of a narrow hole in the southern Turkish province of Hatay. She had been buried for 147 hours, according to Istanbul Municipality.

Elsewhere in the same province, seven-month-old baby Hamza was hauled from the rubble on Saturday, with video footage showing the boy’s rescuers cheering and hugging each other.

Yesterday, a two-year-old was rescued from the debris after 150 hours and given an oxygen mask to assist her breathing 

A baby rescued from under rubble 128 hours after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria

And yesterday, a two-year-old was rescued from the debris and given an oxygen mask to assist her breathing.

Emergency workers wrapped the child in foil and blankets to protect her from the cold and a plaster was placed over a wound on her forehead.

Elsewhere in central Hatay, a man and his five-year-old daughter – named as Emira – were also rescued from a destroyed building. And a video released by the Turkish health ministry showed another small child bruised and lying on a stretcher covered in dust and bruises.

It is not known how young the child was or how long she had been underground for.

Access to water and air to breathe are two crucial factors that can determine how long a person can survive being trapped in rubble. It is also thought that cold weather has helped as it slows dehydration that would be far more severe in hotter conditions. Adnan Muhammed Korkut, a 17-year-old rescued from a basement near the quake’s epicentre in Gaziantep, was forced to drink his own urine to stay alive.

Three children, rescued from under rubble, are transferred to hospital by military helicopter

People wait for news from their relatives near the site of collapsed buildings following a powerful earthquake in Adiyaman, southeastern Turkey

Dr Jarone Lee, an emergency and disaster medicine expert at Massachusetts General Hospital, said: ‘Typically, it is rare to find survivors after the fifth to seventh days, and most search and rescue teams will consider stopping by then. But, there are many stories of people surviving well past the seven-day mark.

‘Unfortunately, these are usually rare and extraordinary cases.’

Meanwhile, justice officials are already targeting rogue construction professionals for failing to ensure buildings would withstand such an event. Arrest warrants have been issued for 131 people – both building contractors and local officials – who presided over a corrupt system in which building standards were bypassed to ensure a construction boom.

Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag confirmed prosecutors had already begun gathering samples for evidence. And yesterday, two people were arrested in Gaziantep for allegedly cutting down columns to make room in a building that collapsed.

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