Turkey earthquake tragedy as 12-year-old boy rescued from rubble with his parents after 13 days dies in hospital - as death toll passes 46,000
- People continue to be pulled from debris almost 13 days on from the earthquake
- Three people, including a young child, were extracted from under a building
A couple and their son have miraculously been pulled from beneath mountains of rubble on the 13th day of rescue operations following the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria last week.
Television images showing the family-of-three being carried to ambulances were broadcast to Turkish news. Their extraction after almost a fortnight gave a small glimpse of hope to families across the region still missing loved ones amid the disaster.
The three were extracted from under their apartment building in Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, and transferred to ambulances and helicopters after spending 296 hours buried under the debris.
The state-run Anadolu news agency identified them as Samir Muhammed Accar, 49, his wife Ragda, 40, and their 12-year-old son.
But the young boy later died in hospital from dehydration. After many around Turkey had followed the family's initial phenomenal rescue, news of the tragedy now reinforced the horrors inflicted on so many across the region following the brutal and indiscriminate quakes.
![The state-run Anadolu news agency identified them as Samir Muhammed Accar (pictured), 49, his wife Ragda, 40, and their 12-year-old son. The boy later died in the hospital.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67824469-11766011-image-a-12_1676715766089.jpg)
The state-run Anadolu news agency identified them as Samir Muhammed Accar (pictured), 49, his wife Ragda, 40, and their 12-year-old son. The boy later died in the hospital.
![Ragda Accar is transferred to a hospital with a helicopter after being rescued from under the rubbles of a collapsed building](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67824953-11766011-image-a-13_1676716054055.jpg)
Ragda Accar is transferred to a hospital with a helicopter after being rescued from under the rubbles of a collapsed building
![Turkey declared seven days of national mourning after deadly earthquakes in southern provinces](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67825013-11766011-image-a-26_1676716342934.jpg)
Turkey declared seven days of national mourning after deadly earthquakes in southern provinces
Amid the rescue mission, bodies of two other children were also found in the rubble, reports said, quoting a member of a Kyrgyz rescue team.
More than 46,000 people have now been killed following last week's earthquake, and the toll is expected to soar with around 264,000 apartments in Turkey destroyed and many still missing in the country's worst modern disaster.
The death toll in Turkey stands at 40,642, while neighbouring Syria has reported more than 5,800 deaths. However, Syria's toll has not been updated for several days.
The window for finding people alive also continues to shrink.
Many international rescue teams have now left the vast quake zone, as domestic teams continue to search through flattened buildings hoping to find more survivors who defied the odds. Experts say most rescues occur in the 24 hours following an earthquake.
Hakan Yasinoglu, in his 40s, was one fortunate survivor rescued in the southern province of Hatay, 278 hours after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck in the dead of night on February 6, last week.
Footage showed medics fixing an IV drip to his arm as he lay on a stretcher.
Hatay is one of the worst hit of the 11 provinces in the Turkish disaster zone.
Earlier, Osman Halebiye, 14, and Mustafa Avci, 34, were saved in Turkey's historic city of Antakya, known in ancient times as Antioch. As Avci was carried away, he was put on a video call with his parents, who showed him his newborn baby.
'I had completely lost all hope. This is a true miracle. They gave me my son back. I saw the wreckage and I thought nobody could be saved alive from there,' his father said.
Aid organisations say the survivors will need help for months to come with so much crucial infrastructure destroyed.
![Ragda Accar is transferred to hospital with a helicopter after being rescued from under the rubbles of a collapsed building. She was rescued with her partner and son, but the son later died](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/11/67826023-11766011-image-a-35_1676721332456.jpg)
Ragda Accar is transferred to hospital with a helicopter after being rescued from under the rubbles of a collapsed building. She was rescued with her partner and son, but the son later died
![Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca visits 40 year-old Ragda Accar following her rescue from under the rubbles of a collapsed building](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/11/67826027-11766011-image-a-34_1676721329011.jpg)
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca visits 40 year-old Ragda Accar following her rescue from under the rubbles of a collapsed building
![A couple and a child were rescued by search and rescue teams, Hatay, Turkey, February 18. 2023. The boy later died in hospital](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67824467-11766011-image-a-15_1676716071050.jpg)
A couple and a child were rescued by search and rescue teams, Hatay, Turkey, February 18. 2023. The boy later died in hospital
![Ragda Accar was pulled alive after 296 hours following the powerful twin earthquakes in Antakya district of Hatay, Turkey](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/11/67826025-11766011-image-a-33_1676720802829.jpg)
Ragda Accar was pulled alive after 296 hours following the powerful twin earthquakes in Antakya district of Hatay, Turkey
![Ragda Accar is covered with a foil sheet as they are moved into an ambulance, Hatay, Turkey](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67825005-11766011-image-a-19_1676716290352.jpg)
Ragda Accar is covered with a foil sheet as they are moved into an ambulance, Hatay, Turkey
![A survivor is pulled from the rubble](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67824999-11766011-image-a-21_1676716299826.jpg)
A survivor is pulled from the rubble
![A couple and their child rescued by search and rescue teams from under the rubble of a collapsed building 296 hours after the powerful twin earthquakes hit Turkey. The child later died](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67825031-11766011-image-a-22_1676716321190.jpg)
A couple and their child rescued by search and rescue teams from under the rubble of a collapsed building 296 hours after the powerful twin earthquakes hit Turkey. The child later died
![Rescue teams work to save people from the rubble in Hatay, Turkey](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67825029-11766011-image-a-23_1676716325066.jpg)
Rescue teams work to save people from the rubble in Hatay, Turkey
![An aerial view of collapsed buildings after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit multiple provinces including Hatay, Turkey, February 18, 2023](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67825017-11766011-image-a-24_1676716333068.jpg)
An aerial view of collapsed buildings after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit multiple provinces including Hatay, Turkey, February 18, 2023
![Buildings lie in ruins in Hatay, Turkey](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67825015-11766011-image-a-25_1676716341139.jpg)
Buildings lie in ruins in Hatay, Turkey
![Rescue teams search for people as cranes remove debris from destroyed buildings in Antakya, southeastern Turkey](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67824487-11766011-image-a-14_1676716056574.jpg)
Rescue teams search for people as cranes remove debris from destroyed buildings in Antakya, southeastern Turkey
In neighbouring Syria, already shattered by more than a decade of civil war, the bulk of fatalities have been in the northwest, an area controlled by insurgents who are at war with President Bashar al-Assad - a conflict that has complicated efforts to aid people affected by the earthquake.
It is believed the the sides clashed overnight for the first time since the disaster, with government forces shelling the outskirts of Atareb, a rebel-held town badly hit by the earthquake, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Friday.
UN chiefs also warned that local authorities in northwestern Syria were not giving the required access to the United Nations food agency, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) said today.
WFP Director David Beasley warned that the agency only had money left for about 60 days in its earthquake response programme.
He said: 'The Syrian and Turkish governments are really cooperating and are giving us the access we need to cross the border, but the problems we are running into is the cross-line operations into northwest Syria where the northwestern Syrian authorities are not giving us the access we need,' he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Thousands of Syrians who had sought refuge in Turkey from their country's civil war have returned to their homes in the war zone - at least for now.
Neither Turkey nor Syria have said how many people are still missing following the quake.
For families still waiting to retrieve relatives in Turkey, there is growing anger over what they see as corrupt building practices and deeply flawed urban development that resulted in thousands of homes and businesses disintegrating.
One such building was the Ronesans Rezidans (Renaissance Residence), which keeled over in Antakya, killing hundreds.
'It was said to be earthquake-safe, but you can see the result,' said Hamza Alpaslan, 47, whose brother had lived in the apartment block. 'It's in horrible condition. There is neither cement nor proper iron in it. It's a real hell.'
![Rescuers work at the site of a collapsed building, in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake, in Antakya, Turkey](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/11/67826045-11766011-image-a-38_1676721351200.jpg)
Rescuers work at the site of a collapsed building, in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake, in Antakya, Turkey
![Ragda Accar is transferred to a helicopter in Antakya district](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/11/67826043-11766011-image-a-37_1676721348786.jpg)
Ragda Accar is transferred to a helicopter in Antakya district
![Ragda Accar is seen to by medics after being rescued from under the rubbles of a collapsed building](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/11/67826037-11766011-image-a-36_1676721344951.jpg)
Ragda Accar is seen to by medics after being rescued from under the rubbles of a collapsed building
![A worker looks on as they demolish a heavily damaged building in Hatay](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67825037-11766011-image-a-32_1676716390325.jpg)
A worker looks on as they demolish a heavily damaged building in Hatay
![A couple and a child were rescued by search and rescue teams from under the rubble of a collapsed building](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67825025-11766011-image-a-30_1676716368728.jpg)
A couple and a child were rescued by search and rescue teams from under the rubble of a collapsed building
![People sit on the rubble of their former home to protect their belongings after a powerful earthquake in Samandag](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67824993-11766011-image-a-27_1676716351596.jpg)
People sit on the rubble of their former home to protect their belongings after a powerful earthquake in Samandag
![A woman sits on the rubble of her former home to protect her belongings after a powerful earthquake in Samandag](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67824995-11766011-image-a-28_1676716361121.jpg)
A woman sits on the rubble of her former home to protect her belongings after a powerful earthquake in Samandag
![An excavator works through the rubble, Hatay, Turkey](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/10/67803009-11766011-image-a-29_1676716363491.jpg)
An excavator works through the rubble, Hatay, Turkey
![The earthquake has ripped through the ground to create a giant pitt](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/16/67829185-11766011-image-a-1_1676737216386.jpg)
The earthquake has ripped through the ground to create a giant pitt
![The earthquakes created a giant pitt in Gaziantep, Turkey](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/18/16/67829191-11766011-image-a-2_1676737221033.jpg)
The earthquakes created a giant pitt in Gaziantep, Turkey
Turkey has promised to investigate anyone suspected of responsibility for the collapse of buildings and has ordered the detention of more than 100 suspects, including developers.
The United Nations on Thursday appealed for more than $1 billion in funds for the Turkish relief operation, and has launched a $400 million appeal for Syrians.
On Friday, Mosques around the world performed absentee funeral prayers for the dead in affected region, many of whom could not receive full burial rites given the enormity of the disaster.
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