Rescuers rejoice as survivors emerge from ruins; Turkey-Syria earthquake toll surpasses 24,000 

These earthquake survivors were among the more than a dozen people who were found alive in the wreckage on Friday after being stranded in the darkness for more than four days due to the calamity that devastated Turkey and Syria.

Six relatives congregated in a little air pocket. A thirsty youngster who was in severe need swallowed his own urine. A popular song helped two terrified sisters feel better as they waited for rescuers to set them free.

In the midst of a calamity that has claimed the lives of almost 24,000 people, injured at least 80,000 others, and left millions homeless, the improbable rescues, which came so long after Monday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake brought down thousands of structures, offered short moments of joy.

A throng cheered “God is awesome!” as Haci Murat Kilinc and his wife, Raziye, were transported on stretchers to an ambulance in the Mediterranean city of Iskenderun.

“You’ve been working so many hours, God bless you!” a relative of the couple told one of their saviors.

In the Samanda district of Hatay, a 10-year-old child was also rescued overnight with his mother after being stranded for more than 90 hours, while in the eastern city of Diyarbakr, 32-year-old Sebahat Varl and her son, Serhat, were rescued alive 100 hours after the initial earthquake.

There were still more stories: A German team said it worked for more than 50 hours to free a woman from a collapsed house in Kirikhan. And a trapped woman could be heard speaking to a team trying to dig her out in a video broadcast by HaberTurk television. She told her would-be rescuers that she had given up hope of being found and prayed to be put to sleep because she was so cold. The station did not say where the operation was taking place.

Even though experts say trapped people can live for a week or more, the odds of finding more survivors were quickly waning.

Death loomed everywhere: Mortuaries and cemeteries were overwhelmed, and bodies wrapped in blankets, rugs, and tarps lay in the streets of some cities.

Temperatures remained below freezing across the large region, and many people have no shelter. The Turkish government has distributed millions of hot meals as well as tents and blankets but is still struggling to reach many people in need.

The disaster compounded suffering in a region beset by Syria’s 12-year civil war, which has displaced millions of people within the country and left them dependent on aid. The fighting sent millions more to seek refuge in Turkey.

The U.N. refugee agency estimated that as many as 5.3 million people have been left homeless in Syria. Sivanka Dhanapala, the country representative in Syria for UNHCR, told reporters Friday that the agency is focusing on providing tents, plastic sheeting, thermal blankets, sleeping mats, and winter clothing.

Aleppo has been scarred by years of heavy bombardment and shelling, much of it by the forces of Assad and his ally, Russia, and it was among the cities most devastated by the earthquake.

The Syrian government also announced that it will allow aid to reach all parts of the country, including areas held by insurgent groups in the northwest.

Turkey’s disaster-management agency said more than 20,200 people had been confirmed killed in the disaster so far in Turkey, with more than 80,000 injured.

More than 3,500 people have been confirmed killed in Syria, bringing the total number of dead to nearly 25,000.

Some 12,000 buildings in Turkey have either collapsed or sustained serious damage, according to Turkey’s minister of environment and urban planning, Murat Kurum. Turkey’s vice president, Fuat Oktay, said more than 1 million people were being housed in temporary shelters.

Engineers suggested that the scale of the devastation was partly explained by lax enforcement of building codes.