4 days after the earthquake in Turkey, a 3-year-old girl was found alive under the rubble of a building. According to AFP and Turkish media, a dishwasher saved his life.
A small miracle. As a magnitude 7 earthquake on the Richter scale left 105 people dead and 994 injured in Turkey on Friday, October 30, it looks like a little girl has brought hope to the country. In fact, on Tuesday 3 November, 4 days after the tragic event, rescuers uprooted a 3 or 4 year old girl from the rubble of a ruined building. She remained buried for no less than 91 hours. It was in the province of Izmir, west of Turkey, that the miracle happened.
“After hearing a voice, we started to search. Through a small hole my colleague Ahmet saw a hand, and when we enlarged the hole we saw Ayda's face”Ibrahim Topal, one of the rescuers, told AFP. Before adding: "The joy we felt is indescribable”.
Thanks to the household appliances
Rescuer Ahmet Celik said little Ayda got caught between several household appliances. Fortunately, because it was they who protected it from the landslide and all the rubble. Without the devices, rescuers probably would never have found her. Another member of the rescue team, Nusret Aksoy, said the little girl owed her life to a dishwasher.
The day before, another 3-year-old girl, Idil Sirin, had also been rescued.
A breath of hope
The discovery of this little girl, alive, had the effect of inspiring hope in the country. The Mayor of Izmir, Tunc Soyer, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have both spoken about the matter on the social platform Twitter. They only talk about one thing: a miracle. "We witnessed a miracle”Soyer wrote. “A miracle called Ayda […] Your smiling eyes gave us new hope”, Shared the president. A joyful and luminous break between the dark days that the country has just experienced.
Little Ayda was immediately taken to hospital, and applauded upon arriving at CHU d´Ege.