‘Get my daughter, I am nothing without my kid,’ woman cries out as death toll hit 38

This article is more than 7 months old

This article is more than 7 months old

A young child and her mother have been pulled out alive from under a collapsed building as Turkey began winding down its rescue operation following an earthquake that killed at least 38 people.

The 6.8-magnitude quake struck in eastern Turkey on Friday evening, killing 34 people in Elâzığ province and four in the neighbouring province of Malatya. More than 1,600 others were hurt, Turkey’s AFAD disaster authority said.

Rescue operations had largely been concluded by late Sunday but rescuers were still searching for three people in Elâzığ, about 550km (340 miles) east of Ankara, the interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, said.

“We are still hopeful, we haven’t lost hope,” he told broadcaster CNN Turk.

Those rescued included a 35-year-old woman and her daughter, two, in the Mustafa Pasa district of Elâzığ. Rescuers who heard their screams took several hours to reach them in temperatures as low as -4C (24.8F), state media said.

“Can you hear me?” television footage showed a rescuer calling to the mother. “We are coming. We will save you.”

“Please get me out, I cannot stand it any more. Get my daughter, I am nothing without my kid,” she replied before being safely lifted out on a crane.

The woman’s husband was among those killed.

In a nearby neighbourhood, rescue workers stood on mountains of debris where the quake had split an apartment building in half. They dug through using buckets, blowing whistles to signal they needed silence to listen for trapped people.

Rescue teams, supported by thousands of emergency workers from other provinces and by hundreds of volunteers, had pulled 45 people from under the rubble since the quake, AFAD said.

Play Video 1:17 'I hope God will help us': search for Turkey earthquake survivors continues – video

The health minister, Fahrettin Koca, said 104 people were being treated in hospital.

AFAD said it had sent more than 10,400 tents, 17,000 beds, 37,000 blankets, heaters and food supplies to affected areas and Soylu said AFAD had received 7m lira (£900,000) from a public donation campaign.

AFAD said 1,521 buildings had been damaged, which included 645 with severe damage and 76 collapsed structures. In a statement, it said it had transferred 3m lira in emergency aid to each of the municipalities in Elâzığ and Malatya.

It warned residents not to enter damaged buildings because of the danger of collapse and further aftershocks, of which it said there had been 844.