There have not been earthquakes with so many casualties in Turkey for almost 100 years.
Photo: Alena PALAZHCHENKO
Even at school they taught us that a person can live without water for five, maximum, seven days. However, a powerful earthquake in Turkey shattered this postulate: even 13 days after the natural disaster, rescuers found people alive. There have been no earthquakes with such a number of victims in Turkey in the last 100 years, therefore, even according to the theory of probability, the manifestations of the amazing resistance of the human body are quite acceptable.
BITE THE HAND TO WATER THE CHILD
The story of each person who finds himself in the grip of the elements is unique, and if someone could not even move, pressed by a concrete slab, then another could, for example, have access to water. Factors such as age, state of health, the amount of adipose tissue, injuries received, the ability to move at least a little… also have an influence.
The KP correspondent witnessed the rescue of 12-year-old boy Kaan in the city of Khatai on the eighth day after the natural disaster. The boy was conscious and held the rescuer’s finger in his fist as he was carried to the ambulance.
Another Hatay survivor, Emir, told Komsomolskaya Pravda the story of his salvation:
– When our house collapsed, I was sure that he had died. The darkness is absolute. Concrete slabs on all sides. I only managed to lean over my daughter to cover her with myself: there was no more than a meter between the flagstones where we were squeezed. I don’t know how long the stove could hold out, but at that moment a neighboring house exploded due to a gas leak, and in the dark I saw a flash from the explosion. I realized that I was alive and that I had to crawl towards the light. Two hours my daughter and I went out.
Photo: Alena PALAZHCHENKO
Volunteers from Russia also told the KP correspondent that they managed to save the child, but the mother was dead next to him.
– He bit his hand and gave the child a drink of blood so that he could eat: he has a mark on his hand from his teeth, and both have blood on their lips. And she died herself, apparently from blood loss, ”she said.
SMILE UNDER THE ROLL
On the 12th day of the Khatai earthquake, 34-year-old Mustafa Avji was rescued. The tremors seized him at the moment he was going down to the dining room to get water for his wife. “All these days I have been eating flowers, dirt and insects,” he told reporters.
Hussein, 62, from Antakya, who suffers from diabetes, spent 187 hours under the rubble. When he was rescued, he said the collapsed walls of his apartment rested on a closet and a refrigerator, leaving him little living space. Next to him, he found a bottle of water, a warm blanket, a cross, and even his diabetes pills. Everything you need to survive in such harsh conditions.
Photo: Alena PALAZHCHENKO
– Allah saved me by good deeds and prayers, – only Hussein was able to tell journalists after the rescue.
The whole world was circulated by images of Syria, where a small boy named Mohammed was trapped between two concrete slabs for 45 hours. Rescuers for a long time could not get close to him, but they managed to slip a lid under a plastic bottle filled with water. Surprisingly, after taking a saving sip, the brave boy found the strength to smile at the rescuers of him.
In the Malatya province of eastern Turkey, a phone helped save a family. At the time of the earthquake, a mobile phone was thrown out of the apartment window by the force of the shaking onto the street, which was then picked up by a passerby. At that time, relatives of the family under the rubble called out to him. The man informed them about the destruction of the building, thanks to which they quickly reached the place and saved their loved ones. There are thousands of such stories, both happy and tragic.
Photo: Alena PALAZHCHENKO
“HERE EVERYONE WILL BELIEVE!”
But what is most striking is the survival of people in such a period of time in unthinkable conditions: the low temperature in the affected areas these days broke all records this year, dropping below zero at night. People tend to see a divine presence in them, and the most important word that can be heard throughout Turkey in connection with happy rescues is “mujize” – “miracle”.
Photo: Alena PALAZHCHENKO
Hatay is famous for the fact that it combines three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism, it houses the religious buildings of all three and on all the symbols of the city you can see a crescent, a cross and a six star. tips. And the locals are also extremely devoted. In conversations with the KP correspondent, many passionately demonstrated the personal involvement of higher powers both in the very event of the earthquake and in subsequent amazing rescues. At the same time, they are not at all embarrassed by the obvious contradiction of their actions: first they arrange a catastrophe, destroying tens of thousands, and then showing their divine essence and saving a few. Faith in God’s providence is so strong among many that it exceeds even the rational need to meet seismological building standards; In any case, every second you hear about Allah, and criticism of the authorities and developers is only occasional.
Perhaps this can explain the viral posts on social networks about the alleged presence of supernatural forces that helped and saved. For example, a popular story about a certain Chechen:
“A Chechen from the rubble removal site after the earthquake says: “Here, even those who have abandoned religion will believe! Children, who were pulled out from under the rubble, tell such things! They gave them food and drink, they played with them… They asked a child: “Aren’t you cold?” – “No, I was hugged and warmed by a person, she disappeared when you arrived…”.
Photo: Alena PALAZHCHENKO
Of course, one must understand that the children being pulled out from under the rubble do not say anything to anyone: rescuers wrap them in thermal blankets in the blink of an eye and rush to the ambulance. Arriving at the hospital with strangers to be interviewed is not that easy even for accredited journalists, not to mention anonymous volunteers “from the rubble cleanup site”. Additionally, physicians are aware of near-delusional conditions and hallucinations in emergency conditions. But it is also true that in these terrible days for Turkey and Syria, many hearts were encouraged only by hope and faith in the best.
