KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey – Israeli emergency workers rescued a young woman on Wednesday night from the rubble of a building that collapsed in Monday’s deadly earthquakes in Turkey, proving that miracles can happen in hell.
Hell in Turkey is maliciously cold, and its winds are laden with heavy dust. Its denizens huddle around weak fires in desperate bids for warmth. The luckier ones take refuge in the many tents that line its outskirts.
Hell is in Kahramanmaras – or what is left of the Turkish city.
Cities left in ruins
Every other building has collapsed on itself. Those that remain standing are full of deep gouges or lack walls, revealing that these were once people’s homes.
As United Hatzalah arrived in the city on its earthquake relief mission, Tarkan, a young Turkish man, pointed out the flattened apartment that his grandfather had lived in.
“The building collapsed on my grandfather and step-grandfather. They were found dead, hugging their grandchildren, nine and 10,” in the rubble.
He thanked the Israeli volunteers for coming, and offered them his soup and bread, and volunteered to translate for them; anything he could do to help.
A few blocks away, Asiya, another resident, pointed out where his apartment would have been, if it hadn’t been sandwiched between the floor and ceiling. He said three of his family members had died.
Next to where he had lived, half of a man’s corpse, torso and legs hung out between concrete slabs. The rest of his body remained buried in the building. When United Hatzalah arrived, they covered the body out of respect.
A woman approached the IsraAID investigation team. She offered them food and anything they might need. A Turkish man who had volunteered to translate for her had lost two nieces in the same building as Asiya. Her brother, sister-in-law and their two children were inside when a building diagonal to Asiya’s building collapsed. She didn’t know if they were alive or not.
“It’s all destiny,” said the translator. “It’s all destiny.”
Many families learned of tragic fates for their loved ones on Wednesday. The wailing of men and women is now as common as the wail of sirens.
Several times, residents carrying black body bags passed by the United Hatzalah team.
For others, there is still hope. United Hatzalah spent all day digging to free a group of people under the rubble who were responsive. At another site, the IDF Search and Rescue Brigade was investigating if two parents and three children were trapped in a building that had sunk into the ground.
The Wednesday night rescue offered bittersweet hope to members of the IDF Search and Rescue Brigade and United Hatzalah.
The IDF team had located a woman and her boyfriend 24 hours earlier, a spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post. However, it took many more hours until they extracted the boyfriend, who later died of his injuries in a hospital.
The woman was put into an ambulance, headed to the hospital with a severe leg injury.
The Israeli rescue teams are hopeful of being able to perform more miracles soon.