- Nafisa Kohnavard
- BBC – Antakya
It was even more difficult to get Merv out from under the rubble, as her feet got stuck under a concrete block
Rescue worker Mustafa Ozturk calls out “Merv! Irim!” While everyone was instructed to remain calm. Search teams are trying to reach two sisters, who other survivors suggested were still alive under the rubble.
Rescuers used their sensors to hear a response from under the rubble as everyone froze in anticipation of what might emerge.
Then there are signs of progress in the search process, and Mustafa says: “Irem, dear Irem, I am close to you, do you hear me?”
No one might hear a thing while observing the scene, but she was clearly beginning to respond, while a group of the girl’s friends were silently waiting with us.
And the rescuer continues: “You’re great, now calm down and answer me. Aha, we have Merv too. Merv darling, just answer my questions.”
Merv, 24, and her sister Irem, 19, were stuck under the rubble of a five-storey residential building in Antakya, southern Turkey, which collapsed due to the earthquake. They remained under the rubble for two days, which seemed like long weeks.
The rescuer continued speaking to them through the rubble: “It’s Wednesday, isn’t it! It sure hasn’t been 14 days for you to be under the rubble. Give us five minutes and we’ll get you out.”
Mostafa knows that it may take hours to get the two young women out, but he tells us: “If they lose hope, the chances of survival may be lost.”
Merve and Irene started joking and laughing while here I can see a wide smile on Mustafa’s face as he says, “If they had enough space, they would start dancing.”
According to the accounts of the rescuers, there are two meters left between the team and the two sisters, but the leader of the rescue team, Hassan Binay, confirmed that digging a tunnel in the concrete blocks is a very precise process, and any error in it may lead to a disaster.
Rescuers called in a bulldozer to gently lift the thick blocks of concrete and hold them to prevent the building from collapsing when the digging began.
Mustafa calls out, “Girls, we’ll get you blankets in a little while. Don’t worry regarding us, we’re neither cold nor tired.”
Rescuers found the two sisters at 8:30 p.m. and brought them out at 6:00 a.m. the next day, local time
Mostafa says Merv was worried regarding the rescue workers. It is 8:30 pm local time while the region is going through one of the coldest winters in many years.
Rescuers have already begun digging and clearing the rubble with their own hands, without the use of equipment.
But following a few hours, we felt the ground shake under our feet. The rescue operation should have stopped and we should all have moved away from the dilapidated building.
“There is a harsh reality that we have to face here. The safety of our team is the priority,” Hassan said.
After 30 minutes, Mustafa and three of the search and rescue team were back at work at the spot where they were digging.
Mustafa started shouting once more: “Don’t be afraid, believe me, we will not leave you here. I will take you out, and you will invite us to a wonderful lunch,” Mustafa said, following the two sisters thought they would be left to face death under the rubble.
It was midnight, hours following the resumption of drilling, while none of the members of the search and rescue team had had enough sleep. And we gathered around the fire to warm up near the building.
From time to time, a call was echoed in the Turkish word “sısılık”, which means “quiet”. And the lights were turned off at the site, turning into complete darkness, following the rescuers made a hole in the concrete, to see if the two girls would be able to see the beam of light directed towards them by Mustafa with the emergency lamp.
Mustafa said, “Merv! Irem! Do you see the light? Well! Great! I’ll drop you a little camera. Once you see it, tell me and I’ll tell you what to do.”
It was a moment of joy for everyone. Hassan joins his team to watch the two girls on a small screen connected to a night-light camera. Now they can see Irim and Merv.
Mustafa said, “You two are beautiful, don’t move too much. Pull the camera, Irem, so we can see Merv more clearly.”
Everyone is starting to feel relieved, the girls seem to be fine, and Irem at least has some space to move around and get out if they make a bigger hole.”
But fear began to creep back into the team. Merv told them that she was starting to feel cold and that something was heavy on her feet.
The paramedics at the scene began to ask among themselves anxiously: “Has Merv’s foot developed gangrene? Or is this the beginning of symptoms of hypothermia?”
At five in the morning, the gap had widened enough to enter the skinniest member of the rescue team to crawl towards the two girls, and indeed he reached them and managed to hold Irem’s hand for minutes.
Irem said to the rescuer: “Our mother’s body began to rot, and we can no longer breathe well,” as the two girls were lying next to their mother’s body for several days.
The scene was horrific, and we all began to imagine how horrible it is that there are moments in life when one does not want to be with one’s mother.
Hassan asked one of Merv’s friends – who was standing silent and tense – to show him pictures of the two girls, as they were trying to estimate the width required for the gap through which they might get the two sisters out. There was a picture of the two girls wearing dresses and smiling broad faces at a wedding.
“Wow, we can get them out,” a voice from the rescue team announced. Paramedics prepared with thermal blankets and stretchers. It was 6:30 am local time when they took Irim out first, and the girl was crying and laughing at the same time.
“God bless you, please take Merv out too,” Irem said, imploring the rescuers. Hassan replied, “Merv will come, I promise.”
But getting Merv out required another 30 minutes of tension. They had to free her feet stuck under the concrete without causing any harm to her, and indeed the operation succeeded.
As soon as Merv walked out, everyone started clapping and cheering. I heard Merv screaming in pain, but then she screamed, “Am I really alive?”
Mustafa replied with a smile: “Yes, my dear.”
Friends of the two sisters – who did not leave the scene all night – began to scream with tears falling from their eyes while chanting, “Merv! Irem! We are here, don’t be afraid.”
After that, the two sisters were taken by ambulance to a field hospital.
And following the happy moment came a chilling moment, as the rescue team told everyone to keep quiet for what appears to be the final call.
“If you can hear us, answer us. If you can’t answer us, try touching the ground.”
He repeated the plea, appealing to any possible survivors under the rubble of the building, several times from different angles. But he went sadly to a block of concrete and began to sign and write some symbols with a spray gun that spewed red paint so that other rescue teams would not repeat the search under the rubble of this building.
Rescue worker Mustafa said: “It’s a nice feeling to save a human life, but I wish there were no deaths,” he said to me, while sadness clouded his face.
And I asked him, “Are you going to have lunch with Irim and Merv?” He replied with a smile: “I wish I might do that one day, but the important thing now is that they are alive and in safe hands.”
