Rescuers were scouring debris on Friday nearly 100 hours after a massive earthquake hit Turkiye and Syria, killing at least 21,000 people in one of the region\u2019s worst disasters for a century.
\nThe first UN aid deliveries arrived on Thursday in Syrian rebel-held zones, but chances of finding survivors have dimmed since the passing of the three-day mark that experts consider a critical period to save lives.
\nBitter cold hampered search efforts in both countries, but more than 80 hours after the disaster struck, 16-year-old Melda Adtas was found alive in the southern Turkish city of Antakya.
\nHer overjoyed father was in tears and the grieving nation cheered an agonisingly rare piece of good news.
\n\u201cMy dear, my dear!\u201d he called out as rescuers pulled the teen out of the rubble and the watching crowd broke into applause.
\nThe 7.8-magnitude quake struck early Monday as people slept, in a region where many had already suffered loss and displacement due to Syria\u2019s civil war.
\nTop aid officials were planning to visit affected areas with World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths both announcing trips.
\nThe president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, said she had arrived in Aleppo.
\n\u201cCommunities struggling after years of fierce fighting are now crippled by the earthquake,\u201d Spoljaric tweeted on Wednesday.
\n\u201cAs this tragic event unfolds, people\u2019s desperate plight must be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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