Relief operations continued on Monday, November 2, in the rubble of eight buildings in Izmir, a city in western Turkey, as the toll of the powerful earthquake that shook the Aegean region was weighed down to 91 dead.

Two children have been pulled alive from the ruins of collapsed buildings in this Turkish city.

A 3-year-old girl, Elif Perincek, was rescued in Bayrakli district sixty-five hours after the earthquake and taken to hospital.

Turkish media broadcast images of the girl wrapped in a blanket being evacuated to applause from a group of rescuers.

Turkey: A # 3-year-old girl was pulled out of the # rubble 65 hours after the # Izmir earthquake. # Elif_Perincek was immediately hospitalized.

This is the 106th person saved injured from # rubble.https: //t.co/JFUiEmoHe9 pic.twitter.com/u2XpBPZKP5

- ANADOLU AGENCY (FR) (@aa_french) November 2, 2020

Elif Perincek is the 106th person to be found alive in the rubble of buildings destroyed or damaged by the earthquake, which struck the province of Izmir and the Greek island of Samos on Friday.

Among those rescued were Elif Perincek's mother, two sisters and brother, who were removed from the rubble on Saturday evening.

The brother died shortly after, however, according to state television, TRT.

The firefighter who found the girl, Muammer Celik, told AFP that he initially believed she was dead.

"We thought she was dead, I asked for a body bag and a blanket. But after cutting the metal, I wanted to wipe off the dust that covered her and when I held out my hand she grabbed my thumbs up all of a sudden, ”he said.

"At that moment, I froze, my colleagues too, before crying with joy. Elif only let go of my hand once it was evacuated to a tent," he added.

Hours before Elif's rescue, rescuers removed another living girl, Idil Sirin, 14, from the rubble of another building.

But the family's joy was short-lived as Idil's sister Ipek was found dead under the ruins, the Hurriyet daily reported.

A heavy toll

The earthquake killed at least 91 people in Turkey according to the latest report released on Monday.

Two other people died on the Greek island of Samos.

Around 1,000 people have also been injured in Turkey, of whom more than 200 are still hospitalized.

According to the Turkish authorities, 1,864 tents have been set up in the Izmir region and so far house some 5,000 people whose homes have been destroyed or damaged.

Rescuers continued to search the rubble on Monday in the hope of finding other survivors.

Equipped with acoustic detection devices, rescuers regularly urged the crowd to be silent in order to be able to detect even the weakest sounds coming from the rubble.

Some of them would use megaphones to ask possible survivors to try to shout to be located.

Authorities also arrested nine contractors as part of an earthquake-related investigation into the construction of buildings in Izmir that did not meet the anti-seismic standards in force in Turkey, according to the state agency. Anadolu. 

With AFP

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