Boy, 8, one of lucky ones as aid fails to show
Survivor rescued after two days under the rubble but anger grows as the official earthquake response stalls
AN Eight-year-old boy was pulled from the wreckage of his home in the Turkish city of Antakya yesterday as hopes faded for remaining survivors still trapped while they wait for the overwhelmed emergency services.
The rescue took place in the southeastern province of Hatay, where workers are struggling to get aid through amid growing anger at officials accused of being slow to respond to what is emerging as one of the most deadly natural disasters this century.
The boy spent about 52 hours under the rubble but was pulled out by a volunteer unit that had recently arrived from a Black Sea province.
Dressed in black tracksuit trousers and a blue sweatshirt, Yigit Cakmak jumped into the arms of his uncle who stood on the edge of the heap of bricks, cement beams and iron rods protruding around them.
The remarkably healthy-looking boy sat on his relative’s shoulder and waved to his mother and onlookers who stood a few metres aside.
“He seemed to be absolutely healthy, no bruises, scratches or anything,” said Burak Kara, a photographer who witnessed the scene in the city devas- tated by Monday’s earthquake that has claimed more than 12,000 lives across Turkey and Syria.
“It’s as if he hadn’t been trapped there all this time.”
The quake has killed at least 3,356 people in Hatay, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, said yesterday as he visited the province amid growing concern about the rescue efforts.
Mr Erdogan admitted that there had been problems with his government’s initial response.
The president, who contests an election in May, said that rescue operations were now proceeding normally and promised that no one would be left homeless, as the combined death toll across Turkey and neighbouring Syria climbed above 11,500.
Mr Erdogan declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces and sent in troops to assist the authorities. He later arrived in Kahramanmaras to view the damage and see the rescue and relief effort for himself.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Erdogan said there had been problems with roads and airports but “we are better today”. He added: “We will be better tomorrow and later. We still have some issues with fuel... but we will overcome those too.”
Later, he condemned criticism of the government’s response. “This is a time for unity, solidarity. In a period like this, I cannot stomach people conducting negative campaigns for political interest,” Mr Erdogan told reporters on his arrival in Hatay.
Nevertheless, the disaster will pose a challenge to the president in the May election that was already set to be the toughest fight of his two decades in power. In an ominous sign, the operator of Istanbul’s stock exchange suspended trading for five days in an unprecedented step.
Any perception that the government is failing to address the disaster properly could harm Mr Erdogan’s election prospects. On the other hand, analysts say, he could rally national support around the crisis response and strengthen his position.
In the Adiyaman province to the north, it took almost two days for rescue teams to reach the areas that have so far been neglected.
In neighbouring Hatay, large swathes have yet to see a concerted rescue effort either, despite the president’s visit.
In an interview two weeks before the disaster, the region’s governor complained that the central government was ignoring his requests to co-operate over earthquake safety in the area, which stands on a major fault line.
‘This is a time for unity, solidarity. In a period like this, I cannot stomach people conducting negative campaigns for political interest’