Rescue work for survivors continues on 3rd day of Türkiye's quake disaster

Rescuers search for survivors among the rubble of a building destroyed in quake-hit Besni District of Adiyaman Province, Türkiye, Feb. 8, 2023. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

ANKARA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Rescue teams are racing against time to search for and dig trapped survivors under rubble as temperatures remain low on the third day of an earthquake disaster in Türkiye. Still, some victims are pulled out alive after more than 56 hours of the deadly quakes.

The death toll of the devastating earthquake hitting southern Türkiye on Monday has climbed to 9,057, with 52,979 injuries, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

This aerial photo taken on Feb. 8, 2023 shows rescuers searching for survivors among the rubble of a building destroyed in quake-hit Besni District of Adiyaman Province, Türkiye. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

A newborn named Muhammed Dogan Bostan was plucked alive from the rubble in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras Province on Wednesday, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported with the images showing him sucking his thumb while being pulled from the ruins of a building.

The two-month-old's mother was also pulled from the wreckage and taken to hospital.

In the southern province of Hatay, a 28-year-old woman named Merve was rescued alive from the rubble of a collapsed five-storey building by the rescue teams 48 hours after the earthquake, the Demiroren News Agency reported.

A total of 3,356 people have so far been killed in the earthquakes in Hatay, registering the highest death toll among the 10 affected provinces, where about 6,000 buildings were flattened, according to the latest figures.

Images on social media showed dozens of dead bodies lying wrapped with blankets on the side of the road near the remains of the damaged Iskenderun hospital in Hatay.

Residents ran out of their homes in their pajamas after the ground shook early Monday. Tens of thousands, whose homes were not destroyed in the quake, do not feel safe in buildings as aftershocks continue to shake the foundations and sleep in their cars with a lack of temporary accommodation.

International search and rescue teams, including an 82-member Chinese rescue team that arrived in Türkiye on Wednesday, have poured into the quake zone to assist in rescue efforts in the country.

Humanitarian aid, including medical supplies and rescue items, are loaded onto a Jordanian military plane at the Marka military airport in Amman, Jordan, Feb. 8, 2023. (Photo by Mohammad Abu Ghosh/Xinhua)

Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency on Tuesday in the 10 provinces hit by the quakes. All the national sports events have been suspended, while schools across Türkiye closed until Feb. 13, and the schools in the 10 affected provinces until Feb. 20.

Rescuers of Shenzhen Rescue Volunteers Federation check equipments before departure in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 8, 2023. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck Türkiye's southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT) on Monday, followed by a magnitude-7.6 one at 1:24 p.m. local time (1024 GMT) in the same province.