Syria earthquake: Video shows man rescued after spending 24 hours under rubble
A man was rescued from underneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Syria’s Idlib more than 24 hours after a major earthquake hit the country and neighboring Turkey, a video shared by Syria’s Civil Defense showed on Tuesday.
The young man, only identified as Ali, was dug up by rescue teams from underneath a five-story building that had been completely destroyed by the quake in a small town in Idlib.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria early on Monday, killing thousands and ravaging entire buildings. More than 200 aftershocks were reported in the following hours, which sent major tremors that were felt in Lebanon, Egypt, Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, and other neighboring countries.
The death toll in both Syria and Turkey has surpassed 5,000 as rescue teams continue to dig through the damaged buildings in a race against time. The number of casualties is expected to keep rising in the coming days, according to officials.
The head of Doctors Without Borders in Syria Sebastien Gay also told The Associated Press earlier on Tuesday that health facilities in the northern part of the country were overwhelmed with the thousands of injured people and critical cases.