Rescue workers in Turkey have been working around the clock to find survivors amid the rubble following a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck both Turkey and Syria last week. Their efforts were rewarded today as they miraculously found 70-year-old Menekse Tabak alive after 121 hours trapped under the destruction. Her rescue comes shortly after a 16-year-old boy was also pulled from the wreckage of the same region.

The quake has been the deadliest the country has seen in over 80 years with an official death toll of 20,665 as of now. The United Nations has warned that the search and rescue window is closing and the “probability of finding survivors under the rubble in below freezing temperatures is becoming a lower probability.” This, along with fatigue from all of the rescue teams, further raises the urgency in the search for any survivors.

Belit Tasdem