Rescuers still pulling people from rubble in quake-ravaged SE Turkey

More than nine days after a powerful quake shook southern Turkey and northwest Syria, rescuers are still pulling people from the rubble, defying predictions that survival time has passed.
Turkish authorities today released video showing rescuers retrieving a 77-year-old woman from debris in the city of Adiyaman, a day earlier, roughly 212 hours after the earthquake struck.

Another 45-year-old woman was rescued after 222 hours amid the rubble in the city of Kahramanmaras.

Meanwhile in Syria, rescue operations are starting to shift to recovery efforts, with UN aid funneled through two new border crossings approved by the government in Damascus.

On both sides of the Turkey-Syria border, the World Health Organization (WHO) stressed the need to “focus on trauma rehabilitation”, when treating populations affected by the disaster.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presents donation for quake stricken to Prefect of Constantinople 

In a related development, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, who was accompanied by Protosyncellus Theodoros, on Tuesday visited the Prefect of Constantinople, Ali Yerlikaya, to convey on behalf of the Mother Church and the ethnic Greek community of the Bosporus Metropolis, his deepest condolences for the tens of thousands of victims of the deadly quakes, wishing the Almighty God to repose their souls and give strength to their families.

The Ecumenical Patriarch also expressed his congratulations over the work of rescue teams and volunteer groups, from Turkey and from all over the world.

As a sign of practical support, His All Holiness presented the office-holder with a donation to address the immediate needs of those affected by the natural disaster.

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