Miraculous moments as survivors pulled from earthquake rubble in Turkey, Syria
Two Turkish siblings were pulled from the rubble after 80 hours.
Rescue efforts are ongoing after a massive earthquake and powerful aftershocks caused widespread devastation across southeastern Turkey and northern Syria.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed, and the death toll continues to mount as first responders carefully comb through the wreckage looking for survivors. In hard-hit Turkey, over 6,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, officials said.
Rescuers have been working feverishly in cold, wet weather while also facing the threat of aftershocks since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the region early Monday.
Amid the tragedy and horror of the natural disaster have been reports of miraculous and dramatic rescues.
Among the survivors, an entire family was rescued in the Idlib province in western Syria on Tuesday, according to the humanitarian organization Syria Civil Defense.
Footage of the rescue showed two girls and a boy pulled from the wreckage of a building by the group's volunteer White Helmets to loud, jubilant cheers from the large crowd gathered. The children were brought to an ambulance. Two adults also appeared to be carried out from the collapsed building on stretchers.
One of the survivors is a 4-year-old girl named Beyz, who is in good health, the Antalya Municipality Search and Rescue Team told ABC News.
A more bittersweet rescue occurred in Jindires, Syria, on Tuesday. A baby girl who had been born amid the earthquake rubble was rescued, though none of her family survived, according to The Associated Press.
Saleh al-Badran, a relative, said seven people from the family -- the mother, father and their children -- all died, with the newborn the sole survivor.
Footage of the rescue showed a man carrying the newborn after she was found in the debris, her umbilical cord still connected to her mother. The baby was transported to a hospital, where she remains in stable condition, according to Dr. Hani Maarouf, Pediatric Specialist at Cihan hospital in Afrin.
"Her situation is getting better day after day," Maarouf said in a statement on Thursday, adding that they have named the baby Aya.
Survivors have been found after being trapped for several days and rescued after hours of effort.
In Salqin, Syria, a girl named Aisha was pulled from the rubble Tuesday night after being buried for 40 hours, according to rescuers. Cheers erupted as the White Helmets carried the child away from the debris.
In Turkey, siblings Hilal, 12, and Sukru, 8, were pulled from the rubble in Hatay 80 hours after the earthquake, local officials said on Thursday.
In the Turkish town of Kahramanmaraş, a mother and her 6-year-old daughter were rescued from the rubble of a collapsed house early Thursday, according to a German response team involved in the nearly 20-hour rescue. Responders created a tunnel through the rubble using heavy equipment and manual labor to reach them.
Some 88 hours after the earthquake, an elderly woman was rescued on Thursday from the rubble of a hospital in Iskenderun, Turkey, that was severely damaged due to the earthquake. Footage of the dramatic rescue effort showed the woman pulled out on a stretcher and then placed in the bucket of an excavator with several first responders, before they're slowly taken down safely to the ground.
A young Syrian refugee named Muhammed was pulled from the wreckage Tuesday evening in Antakya, Turkey, after being stuck for nearly 45 hours, according to local officials. A first responder was captured giving the child water from a bottle cap as rescuers worked to free him.
ABC News reporters on the ground in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir on Tuesday learned that crews had recently rescued a woman from what used to be an eight-story apartment building; the top half now rests on three flattened floors below.
A professional soccer player was initially believed to be among the thousands rescued from the rubble in Turkey so far. The athlete -- Christian Atsu, a player for the Turkish team Hatayspor who was on Ghana's 2014 World Cup team and played for Newcastle United in the English Premier League -- was injured in the quake, his team said Tuesday. Though, as of Thursday The Associated Press reported that Atsu’s club and agent said that his whereabouts were unknown.
Animals have also been among those saved in the wake of the devastating earthquake. In Iskenderun, Turkey, rescuers found a small dog, Pamuk, buried up to its neck in the ruins of a building. They offered him water from their hands as they worked to pull him free, more than 72 hours after the earthquake. The dog reportedly is being cared for by neighbors while his owner is hospitalized.
ABC News' Victoria Beaule and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
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