A 20-year-old student, Boran Kubat, was rescued from under the debris of an apartment building in eastern Turkey after sharing his location in a video appeal on WhatsApp. Boran along with his mother, from Istanbul, was visiting family in Malatya when the twin earthquakes struck.
After surviving the first earthquake in the morning, the family had re-entered the building, which came crashing down in the 7.5 magnitude strong quake that followed. Trapped with his relatives under the rubble of the apartment, Boran realised that he could use social media on his smartphone to alert friends.
Boran took to WhatsApp to record a video message begging for help and detailing their address, “Whoever sees this WhatsApp status, please come and help. Please everyone come and rescue us now.” Rescuers were able to locate the family and save Boran and his mother from under the debris.
Boran told Turkish news site Anadolu Agency that it took four to five attempts with a sledgehammer for his friends to find their exact spot. He also added that his uncle and grandmother remained trapped.
Social media has been flooded with urgent pleas from victims trapped in the earthquake-ravaged regions in Syria and Turkey.
AlJazeera reported that a YouTuber known as Charmquell aka Firat Yayla was rescued from central Antakya district of Hatay after sharing a video of his address on Instagram stories. He shared an update later adding that his mother was still stuck under the pile of concrete.
The United States on Thursday announced an initial $85 million package for emergency relief. According to Reuters, the death toll crossed 20,000 on Thursday and the hopes of finding more survivors were grim after over three days of rescue operations since the deadly seismic events.
