A newborn baby and a family of six are among those who defy adversity and are pulled alive from rubble in Turkey just days after the devastating earthquake.
Relief is arriving as hopes of finding more survivors after Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake dwindled in the face of freezing temperatures.
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Stories of extraordinary human resilience in the face of adversity have emerged.
A family of six survives 101 hours under rubble
A woman and her family survived by huddling together in an air pocket
A husband, wife and their four children were rescued after spending 101 hours trapped under the rubble.
The family managed to survive by huddling together in a small air pocket under a collapsed building in Iskenderun, Hatay province.
The skyscraper was only 600 feet from the Mediterranean and the earthquake caused sea levels to rise and flood the city center within a few feet of where they were trapped.
Baby saved
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10 day old baby rescued after 90 hours
A 10-day-old girl was pulled from the rubble together with her mother 90 hours after the disaster.
The boy, named Yagiz Ulas, was found by search and rescue teams in Hatay province, according to officials.
Married couple saved
There was relief when Haci Murat Kilinc and his wife, Raziye, were released. photo: AP
Rescuers wept with relief when a married couple who spent 109 hours buried inside a small crevice in the rubble were freed.
There were cries of “God is great” as Haci Murat Kilinc and his wife, Raziye, were carried on a stretcher through the crowd to a waiting ambulance in Iskenderun.
A rescuer said Mr Kilinc had joked with the search party while still trapped under the rubble, trying to boost morale.
He also asked for cigarettes and tea while still buried but had to be refused.
Joy found as a teenager
Near the epicenter of the earthquake in the city of Gaziantep, rescuers rescued Adnan Muhammed Korkut from the basement where he was trapped after the earthquake.
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Teenager rescued after 94 hours under rubble says he drank urine to survive
Trapped for 94 hours, the 17-year-old said he was forced to drink his own urine to survive.
He smiled at the crowd of friends and family who cried tears of joy as he was carried and placed on a stretcher.
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“Thank God you made it,” he said, hugging his mother and others who leaned down to kiss and hug him as he was loaded into an ambulance.
“Thank you all.”
A rescuer named Yasemin told him, “I have a son just like you.
“I swear, I haven’t slept in four days. I swear I haven’t slept; I was trying to get you out.”
Dramatic saves
Rescuers rescued Ibrahim Kantrji, 20, in Kahramanmaras
Dramatic rescues have also been reported elsewhere, including the city of Antakya, where crews rescued a 10-year-old girl.
Search teams also found a 20-year-old survivor, Ibrahim Kantrji, in Kahramanmaras, while Eyup Ak, 60, was taken to safety in Adiyaman, 104 hours after the earthquake.
Eyup Ak, 60, was trapped for 104 hours. photo: AP
“Disaster of the Century”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called it “the disaster of the century”.
With morgues and cemeteries overwhelmed, corpses lie wrapped in blankets, rugs and tarps on the streets of some cities.
Turkish authorities said more than 19,000 people have been killed so far in the disaster in Turkey, with nearly 75,000 injured.
Some 3,384 have been confirmed killed across the border in Syria, bringing the total death toll to more than 22,000.
The total surpasses the more than 18,400 who died in the 2011 earthquake off Fukushima, Japan, which triggered a tsunami, and the estimated 18,000 people who died in a tremor near Istanbul in 1999.
“They will freeze to death”
Meanwhile, in the city of Antakya, people scrambled for supplies distributed by a truck.
One survivor, Ahmet Tokgoz, has called on the government to evacuate people from the region.
He said, “Especially in this cold, it’s not possible to live here.
“If people didn’t die from being stuck under rubble, they’ll die from the cold.”
Winter weather and damage to roads and airports hampered relief efforts.
The Turkish government has been criticized for being too slow to respond.
There will be a special program called Disaster Zone: The Turkey-Syria Earthquake on Sky News on Friday evening at 21.30