Israeli rescuers continue to search for survivors in quake-stricken Turkey after saving the life of a 12-year-old boy.
By United with Israel Staff
In the town of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, an Israeli rescue team carried out what has been described as the “miraculous rescue” of a 12-year-boy, the UK’s Jewish Chronicle (JC) reported on Thursday.
Four of the the boy’s family members were killed in the earthquake, whose death toll had reached 17,000 people as of Thursday afternoon. In addition, the Israeli team rescued a young woman who was trapped in the same structure as the boy.
Kahramanmaraş is located 100 miles north of Antakya (Antioch), the capital of southern province of Hatay.
The Israeli rescue team was dispatched to Turkey as soon as it could safely land in the disaster-plagued nation, which is also battling a cold-snap that is complicating search missions.
As of Thursday, the Israeli team had rescued 10 survivors, with aftershocks continuing to rock the region.
Israel itself experienced three minor quakes, with tremors felt as far south as Jerusalem.
“We were on our way to a damaged site when we were called by locals who said they heard sounds coming from the rubble,” commented IDF Major Matan Schneider to Times of Israel. Schneider is the leader of the Israeli search team in Kahramanmaraş.
Meanwhile, the Turkish government installed temporary container homes and caravans for displaced survivors, the Associated Press reported.
The country declared a state emergency earlier the week to help facilitate disaster management.