Two-year old boy survives 79 hours since earthquake, pulled from rubble

A two-year old boy was rescued on Thursday from the rubble of a building that collapsed in the southern city of Antakya, 79 hours after a massive earthquake struck the area this week, killing nearly 20,000 people in Turkey and Syria.

Footage from Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) showed rescue workers looking into a narrow opening in the debris of a building in Antakya and pulling out the boy as he cried.

A worker from Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) carried the boy away and handed him over to health workers, as bystanders filmed the rescue on their phones.

A two-year-old boy named Mert was rescued alive from the rubble after 79 hours of the earthquake.

📍 Hatay #earthquake pic.twitter.com/9VGs2mJyxC

— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) February 9, 2023

It is not clear whether the boy’s family survived with him. 

Elsewhere across Syria and Turkey, miraculous stories of children surviving days of isolation have given survivors and rescue crews hope amongst the devastation. 

On Tuesday, a group of men working to rescue civilians stuck inside ruined buildings found and took a newborn baby from under the rubble of a building in the town of Jindires in Aleppo province. The town is under the control of Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.

Hundreds of thousands were left homeless by the earthquakes centred in southern Turkey, having to endure cold weather and a lack of resources, with hopes fading of many more people being found alive in the ruins.

According to figures from the Syrian regime's SANA news agency, 248 schools were damaged or destroyed by Monday’s quake.

The World Health Organisation estimated that around 1.4 million children have been affected by the disaster.

There is particular concern about the spread of illness, especially among the young.

Reuters contributed to this report