Newborn, Toddlers Survive Days in Rubble, Bringing Joy amid Earthquake Tragedy

A member of the Spanish search and rescue team inspects the area of a building collapse in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake in Hatay, Türkiye 10 February 2023. (EPA)
A member of the Spanish search and rescue team inspects the area of a building collapse in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake in Hatay, Türkiye 10 February 2023. (EPA)
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Newborn, Toddlers Survive Days in Rubble, Bringing Joy amid Earthquake Tragedy

A member of the Spanish search and rescue team inspects the area of a building collapse in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake in Hatay, Türkiye 10 February 2023. (EPA)
A member of the Spanish search and rescue team inspects the area of a building collapse in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake in Hatay, Türkiye 10 February 2023. (EPA)

Crouched under concrete slabs and whispering "inshallah" (God willing), rescuers carefully reached into the rubble, then passed down the line their prize - a 10-day-old newborn who survived four days with his mother in the collapsed building.

His eyes wide open, Turkish baby Yagiz Ulas was wrapped in a shiny thermal blanket and carried to a field medical center in Samandag, Hatay province, on Friday. Emergency workers also carried his mother, dazed and pale but conscious, on a stretcher, video images from Türkiye’s disaster agency showed.

The rescue of small children has lifted the spirits of weary crews searching for survivors on the fifth day after a major earthquake struck Türkiye and neighboring Syria, killing more than 22,000 people.

At least nine children were rescued on Friday, videos released by disaster services showed, their astonishing survival inspiring search crews who also saved several trapped adults.

The rescuers, including specialist teams from dozens of countries, toiled through the night in the ruins of thousands of wrecked buildings. In freezing temperatures, they regularly called for silence as they listened for any sound of life from mangled concrete mounds.

In the Turkish town of Kahramanmaras, 200 km (125 miles) north of Samandag, orange-clad workers squeezed into an air pocket beneath a fallen building to find a toddler, crying as dust fell into his eyes, before relief settled over him and rescuers gently brushed his face clean, video from the Turkish defense ministry showed.

Further to the east, the fearful face of another boy looked out from a pancaked building, his cries rising above the sound of the drills and grinders trying to free him on Friday morning in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir, where the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks turned apartment blocks into mounds of rubble and piles of shattered masonry,

After opening a wider hole, workers placed an oxygen mask on his face and carried him to safety. Like baby Yagiz, he was followed by his mother, on a stretcher, 103 hours after the earthquake struck.

In Nurdagi near Iskenderun, a Spanish rescuer said "I got him, I got him, let's go" as he pulled a whimpering two-year-old boy from a collapsed building.

A human chain of soldiers from the Spanish Military Emergencies Unit (UME) moved the boy, Muslim Saleh, to a heated tent, and minutes later pulled out his six-year-old sister, Elif, and then their mother, all alive and well.

"They did not need much treatment, just love, warmth, water and a little fruit," Aurelio Soto, a UME spokesman, said.

Across the border in Syria, rescuers from the White Helmets group used bare hands to dig through plaster and cement, the air clouded with thick dust, until reaching the bare foot of a young girl, wearing pink pajamas now grimy from days trapped, but alive and free at last.

A day earlier in the Syrian city of Azaz, Jomaa Biazid was reunited with his 18-month-old son Ibrahim, who he had not seen since the quake destroyed the family home, killing his wife and daughter.

Rescuers had found the boy in the rubble and taken him to hospital, where a couple posted images of him on social media hoping to track down any relatives.

Standing in tears with scars and blood stains on his face, Biazid looked stunned as his son called out to him "Baba" ("Dad"). He then rushed forward to give the boy a kiss. Biazid said he was still looking for his other son, Mustafa.



What Happens Now, after the Death of Pope Francis

Pope Francis waves to the crowd during his weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square in Vatican on May 18, 2016. (AFP)
Pope Francis waves to the crowd during his weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square in Vatican on May 18, 2016. (AFP)
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What Happens Now, after the Death of Pope Francis

Pope Francis waves to the crowd during his weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square in Vatican on May 18, 2016. (AFP)
Pope Francis waves to the crowd during his weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square in Vatican on May 18, 2016. (AFP)

Here is what happens next in the Roman Catholic Church following the death of Pope Francis, which was announced by the Vatican on Monday. The rituals mark the end of one papacy and the start of the next:

* The pope's camerlengo (chamberlain), Cardinal Kevin Farrell, officially confirms the death. He then seals the pope's private apartment and prepares the funeral.

* The camerlengo and three assistants decide when the pope's coffin will be taken into St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing. They also make sure the pope's "Fisherman's Ring" and his lead seal are broken so they cannot be used by anyone else. No autopsy is performed.

* Mourning rites last nine days, with the date of the funeral and burial to be decided by the cardinals. The funeral would normally be held four to six days after the death, in St. Peter's Square. Francis had said that unlike many predecessors, he would not be laid to rest in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica, but in Rome's St. Mary Major Basilica. He also asked to be buried in a simple wooden casket.

* The College of Cardinals oversees day-to-day business during the interregnum. They have limited power and much of the central Church administration grinds to a halt.

* The conclave to elect a new pope starts in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel between 15 and 20 days after the death. The cardinals, who are confined to the Vatican for the duration of the conclave, decide the exact day.

* All cardinals under the age of 80 can take part in the secret ballot. They need a majority of at least two-thirds plus one to elect the new pope, so the voting can take several rounds spread over numerous days. When the election is concluded, the new pope is asked if he accepts and what name he wishes to take.

* The world learns a pope has been elected when an official burns the paper ballots with special chemicals to make white smoke pour from the chapel's chimney. They use other chemicals to make black smoke indicating an inconclusive vote.

* The dean of the College of Cardinals steps onto the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to announce "Habemus Papam" (We have a pope). The new pope then appears and gives the crowd in the square his blessing.