The President and CEO of the Anadolu News Agency, Serdar Karagioz, expressed his heartfelt thanks for the letter of condolence sent by the President and CEO of APE-MPA, Emilio Perdikaris, on the deadly earthquake that hit Turkey, underlining that «your words of comfort and support at this difficult time are of great importance to us’.

«Your expression of sympathy is a source of strength and encouragement for us (...) We are grateful for your thoughts and prayers and extend our sincerest gratitude and appreciation to you and the rescue teams from Greece, our neighbour,» the Anadolu chief said in his letter, adding: «Your kindness and compassion is a true testament to our souls and a shining example of what we can achieve together in time of need.».

«Thank you again for your support and for taking the time to write such a heartfelt letter,» concludes Serdar Karagioz.

People pulled alive from the rubble 104 hours after the earthquake - More than 21,600 dead

A woman was pulled alive today in Kirihan, Turkey, by a team of German rescuers after 104 hours trapped in the rubble of her collapsed house.

German rescuers carefully lifted 40-year-old Zeynep Kahraman to place her on a stretcher and carry her to the ambulance, while the assembled crowd erupted in applause.

«It took the rescue team more than 50 hours to get through the rubble and reach the woman,» the German NGO I.S.A.R. Germany tweeted.

The German team managed to keep this woman alive by giving her water and fruit juice using a hose. He also maintained contact with her thanks to a small well.

«The rescue was very complicated because there was no space,» NGO spokesman Stefan Heine told Agence France-Presse, describing the rescuers“ work as ”centimetre by centimetre with the help of a hydraulic hammer".

«The woman spent a very long time lying face down next to her relatives who were killed.».

«For us too, this operation was unique,» added this member of the NGO, which specialises in helping victims of natural disasters. «Never before had we maintained such a long period of contact with a person who is overwhelmed.”.

This woman lasted longer than the 72-hour limit, considered critical by experts for finding survivors under the rubble.

“Now I believe in miracles,” said Steven Bayer, the leader of the International Search and Rescue Team operating in the area.

“You see people crying and hugging each other. It's such a relief that this woman under such circumstances came out in such a good condition. It's an absolute miracle.”.

More than 90% of earthquake survivors are rescued within three days after the disaster. However, this duration can vary considerably depending on weather conditions, frequency of aftershocks and the immediacy of assistance.

The total number of victims of the earthquake in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria was 21,000 this morning.

Hundreds of thousands more people have been left homeless and without food in polar cold conditions.

Searches by EMAK in the building where people of Greek origin have allegedly been crushed

A new operation by the Greek rescue mission in Hatai, Turkey, is underway to locate a couple whose relatives have reported to the embassy that they are of Greek origin. Specifically, it is a 65-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman.

The Greek rescue mission submitted this morning an exceptional request to go to the six-storey building and operate and at the moment there are 23 rescuers from the 1st and 2nd EMAK, three medical personnel, two rescue dogs, and two special type vehicles.

«This morning an exceptional request was made by the Greek mission to allow us to do an evacuation in this building, a six-storey building where each floor has two apartments. The green light was given and the Greek mission departed to the site, in the central part of Hatai, with a reinforced force,’ Fire Brigadier General Yannis Artopoyos, spokesman for the Fire Brigade, explained to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

Earlier, speaking to ERT, Mr. Bakery, stressed: «For us, the fact that they are Greeks signals something very important and we have to do a search and rescue operation for symbolic reasons.».

As he notes, the area was controlled by other rescue teams, not the Greek one. A team of the EMAK late yesterday evening in deviation of protocols went to the site continuing investigations but without any result, but today the Greek mission submitted an exceptional request to approve its movement there.

Hopes of finding survivors in the wreckage dwindled today some 100 hours after a deadly earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killing more than 21,600 people in one of the worst disasters to hit the region in a century.

A first humanitarian aid convoy, consisting of six trucks, crossed yesterday, Thursday, into the rebel-held areas of northern Syria from the Bab al-Hawah border crossing.

This aid, consisting of blankets, tents, solar lamps, rescue material and mattresses, is intended to cover the needs of at least 5,000 people, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The White Helmets, rescuers active in the rebel-held areas of Syria, expressed their «disappointment», considering that this aid does not respond to the needs that have arisen after the earthquake and, above all, does not help those who are searching for survivors in the rubble.

Almost all of the humanitarian aid to the rebel-held areas of northern Syria passes through Turkey and the Bab al-Hawah crossing. Turkey said it is trying to open two more crossings to «areas under the control» of Damascus «for humanitarian reasons».

For his part, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adanom Gebrejus, announced yesterday, Thursday, that he was «on his way to Syria’, while the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spolyarich, said on Twitter yesterday that he had arrived in Aleppo, Syria. She also stressed that »the communities that were fighting after years of fierce conflict are now paralysed by the earthquake«.

To their fate

On the other side of the border, in Turkey, thousands of houses have been destroyed. Rescuers are stepping up their efforts to find survivors in the rubble, despite the fact that the critical window of 72 hours after the earthquake has passed. The situation is exacerbated by the polar cold in the region.

After several days of waiting, the 130 rescuers sent by Qatar managed yesterday to pull a 12-year-old boy alive from the rubble in Nourdaghi, a town of 40,000 people near the epicentre of the earthquake.

Hundreds of rescuers from many countries are also searching for survivors in the rubble

In Antakya (Antioch), a town destroyed by the earthquake, some 30 miners arrived after travelling 1,000 kilometres to assist the rescuers, equipped with shovels, shovels, weights, hoes and hacksaws.

«We are deeply hurt that no one supported us,» complained Hakan Tanriverdi, a resident of Adiyaman, a town in southern Turkey.

«I did not see anyone before 14:00 on the second day after the earthquake», 34 hours after the first tremor, Mehmet Yildirim stressed. «Neither the state nor the police nor soldiers. Shame on you! You left us to our fate.».

Cholera risk

According to the most recent official accounts, the 7.8 magnitude earthquake has killed more than 21,600 people, including 18,342 in Turkey and 3,377 in Syria.

Moreover, the UN estimates that 23 million people are «potentially exposed, including five million vulnerable» and fears that a major health crisis will erupt.

Humanitarian organisations are particularly concerned about the spread of the cholera epidemic, which has re-emerged in Syria.

President Assad and his wife visited a hospital in Aleppo where people injured in the earthquake are being treated

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has visited the Aleppo University Hospital in his first visit to an earthquake-hit region, the Syrian presidency announced today.

The presidency released photos of Assad and his wife visiting the injured from the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria that killed thousands of people.

According to the most recent official accounts, the 7.8 magnitude earthquake has killed more than 21,600 people, including 18,342 in Turkey and 3,377 in Syria.

Moreover, the UN estimates that 23 million people are «potentially exposed, including five million vulnerable» and fears that a major health crisis will erupt.

Humanitarian organisations are particularly concerned about the spread of the cholera epidemic, which has occurred in Syria in the past.