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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Chiara Fiorillo

Girl, 5, pulled from rubble of collapsed building 24 hours after Turkey earthquake

A five-year-old girl has been found alive under a wrecked building 24 hours an earthquake in Turkey killed 31 people and injured 1,200 more.

Footage shows a rescue worker holding the scared child as he puts some protective gear around her body.

More rescuers then help the man bring the girl out of the destroyed building in Elazig before doctors check the baby's health.

The clips shows the child crying as she looks scared while rescuers bring her to safety.

The magnitude 6.8 earthquake rocked eastern Turkey on Friday evening, causing buildings to collapse and people to be trapped among the ruins.

A rescue worker holds a child who was found alive in the rubble of a collapsed building in Elazig (via REUTERS)

The quake had its epicentre in the small lakeside town of Sivrice in Elazig province and was felt in neighbouring countries including Syria, Lebanon and Iran.

Elazig is located about 750km (465 miles) east of the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Rescue teams working through the night in sub-zero temperatures pulled 45 people from collapsed building as the death toll reached 31, Turkey's disaster authority said today.

Rescuers continued searching for survivors at three sites in the province using their hands, drills and mechanical diggers.

Among the rescued people, there was a 35-year-old woman with her infant daughter.

A drone photo shows the damage caused by the quake (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The quake, which was followed by more than 700 aftershocks, killed 27 people in Elazig and four in the
neighbouring province of Malatya, Disaster and Emergency Authority AFAD said.

More than 1,600 sustained injuries, it has been reported.

AFAD urged residents not to return to damaged buildings because of the potential risk of collapse.

It said officials had identified 645 heavily damaged and 76 collapsed buildings in the two provinces.

Rescue teams brought beds and tents for those displaced as local mosques, schools, sport halls and student dormitories opened their doors for hundreds of residents who were left homeless.

The death toll rose to 31 as rescue operations are ongoing (via REUTERS)

"It was very scary - furniture fell on top of us. We rushed outside," 47-year-old Melahat Can, who lives in the city of Elazig, told AFP.

"Our houses collapsed...we cannot go inside them," a 32-year-old man from Sivrice told Reuters.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and leading members of his cabinet arrived in Elazig yesterday afternoon to visit the affected area and attend the funeral of two of the victims.

"We are doing everything we can as the state and nation, and we will continue to do so. Our efforts at all rescue sites will continue," Erdogan said.

About 17,000 people died in a quake in the city of Izmit, western Australia, in 1999.

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