Turkey-Syria quakes: Survivors rescued after 12 days

Three people, including a child, were rescued alive from the rubble of a building in the Antakya district in southern Turkey on Saturday, 296 hours after the recent earthquakes, state news agency Anadolu reported.

Footage showed teams carrying a man and a woman out on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.

Next to them, medics were seen treating a child. Reuters news agency later reported that the child died of injuries sustained during the quake. 

The rescues came nearly two weeks after the disaster struck Turkey and Syria.

On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called a young woman who had also been pulled alive a day earlier from under the rubble in the Dulkadiroglu district of Kahramanmaras province.

Seventeen-year-old Aleyna Olmez was taken to a hospital in Ankara, and Erdogan promised he would visit her once he returned to the Turkish capital.

Four people were found alive on Friday, including a 45-year-old man who had spent 278 hours under rubble.

Here are other updates from Saturday February 18, on the aftermath of the deadly earthquakes:

Ex-Chelsea player's body found

The body of Christian Atsu, a former Ghanaian international football player was found under the rubble of the building where he lived in southern Turkey on Saturday, his agent said.

"We have reached his lifeless body. His belongings are still being removed. His phone was also found," Murat Uzunmehmet told local media.

There were initial reports that Atsu had been rescued a day after the quake but these turned out to be false.

The former English Premier League winger had been staying at Ronesans Residence, a block of high-rise luxury flats that towered over Antakya city in Hatay.

Turkish police arrested the building's contractor at the Istanbul airport last week. He appeared to be heading to Montenegro, local media reported.

31-year-old Atsu spent four seasons at Chelsea as well as spells at Newcastle, Everton and Bournemouth.

In September, he signed for the Turkish Super Lig side Hatayspor.

Death toll surpasses 45,000

More than 45,000 people have now been reported dead in the earthquake.

In Turkey, the death toll stands at 39,672, said Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.

More than 264,000 apartments in Turkey have been destroyed and many people are still missing.

On February 12, the World Health Organization reported that 5,900 had been killed by the earthquake in Syria.

Updated figures of the dead and injured were not available for Syria.

On Friday, mosques around the world performed absentee funeral prayers for the dead in Turkey and Syria.

Many of the deceased could not receive full burial rites given the enormity of the disaster.

Turkey: Rescue efforts will go on "until the end"

More than 35,000 personnel have joined rescue efforts to search for any survivors.

But hopes are dimming of finding anyone else alive, 12 days after the disaster, authorities said.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said that rescue teams searched for survivors in around 200 collapsed buildings in 11 Turkish provinces.

Efforts will continue "until the end," he said, adding that the search is focused primarily on Hatay province, which is the worst hit.

More than 50 people, including contractors, have been arrested in connection with the collapsed buildings.

Student films goodbye video under rubble

A 17-year-old high school student made a farewell video message to his loved ones while being trapped under the rubble of his home.

Taha Erdem was abruptly woken by violent tremors shaking the four-story apartment building in Adiyaman, in Antalya province on February 6.

Finding himself alone under tons of rubble, he took out his cell phone and recorded a message that he hoped would be found after his death.

"I think this is the last video I will ever shoot for you," he said as his hand shakes as he holds onto the phone during aftershocks.

"Death, my friends, comes at a time when one is least expecting it," he adds. "There are many things that I regret. May God forgive me of all my sins. If I get out of here alive today there are many things that I want to do. We are still shaking, yes. My hand isn't shaking, it's just the earthquake."

The teen then says he believes his family is dead and that he will soon join them.

But Taha was destined to be among some of the first saved from the destroyed building. He was pulled from the rubble two hours later by neighbors and taken to an aunt's home.

His parents and siblings were also saved 10 hours after the quake by local residents who used their bare hands to dig at the wreck of the building.

mm, ns/kb (Reuters, AP, AFP, DPA)