Earthquake in Turkey: Boy Rescued after 108 Hours, the Homeless in the Snow

Rain and snow worsen the situation of homeless people since the earthquake in eastern Turkey whose record is now 576 dead, but of miracles still happen, like a boy rescued after 108 hours .

Boy Rescued after 108 Hours

Teams of rescuers extracted from the rubble a 12 year old boy in the night from Thursday to Friday Ercis, the city most devastated by the earthquake of magnitude 7.2 occurred Sunday in the province of Van, has announced the Anatolia news agency.

Ferhat Tokay was stuck under the rubble of a building that collapsed in this city of 75,000 inhabitants.

In total, 187 people were removed alive from the rubble by rescuers after the disaster, which was 576 dead and 2,608 wounded, according to a new official count provided Friday.

A few hours earlier, was Aydin Palak, a student of 18, which had been extracted from the rubble of a building in Ercis.

The first snowfall Thursday morning and saved in the freezing cold at night exacerbate the situation for residents and rescue workers.

Rainfall slow relief and are at risk of hypothermia for people who are still under the rubble.

Bulldozers and other equipment demolition began Thursday in Van, the regional capital, the work of clearing, putting an end to the hopes of rescue in this new city.

A Ercis, dozens of rescue workers were still hard at work.

Thousands of cattle, one of the main sources of income of the local population, perished in the earthquake, before the Muslim festival of sacrifice, which begins November 6 in Turkey.

The Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker has promised compensation to farmers.

Residents were again formed early Friday long queues at the sub-prefecture of Ercis. For now, around 25,000 tents have been sent to the region.

Soldiers began to accompany the trucks to help, after the sacking of several vehicles of the Turkish Red Crescent by angry survivors consider themselves left to their own.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Friday the cancellation of the festivities planned as part of the celebration of National Day Saturday, commemorating the founding of the Turkish Republic, October 29, 1923. He criticized the lack of controls, leading to the construction of buildings "poor quality".

"The Van earthquake reminded us that our country is prone to earthquakes, it has also shown that the destruction caused by the negligence and irresponsibility," said the head of the Turkish state.

The earthquake also disrupted the lives already difficult for asylum seekers, mostly Asian.

"No father, no brother (...) Only three sisters and a mother," said Foziye Muhammed, an Afghan girl, who found refuge in a tent with the rest of his family.

"Turkey is a beautiful country, more beautiful than Afghanistan. But after the earthquake, it is so difficult to live here," she added.

To cope with the consequences of the disaster, Turkey has accepted offers of Wednesday d'aide a dozen countries, including Israel and Armenia, two countries with which it has a strained relationship.

"We are grateful for all these aids," said Friday told AFP the spokesman of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Selçuk Ünal, who however said that this spirit of solidarity of the countries with which Ankara is cold should not change Turkish policy towards them.

Earthquake in Turkey - Earthquake Survivors in Turkey are Camping in the Cold

In freezing cold, tens of thousands of people spent a second night under canvas tents, in cars or clustered around a few fires in eastern Turkey devastated by an earthquake Sunday .

Monday night, the record of this earthquake of magnitude 7.2 was increased to 279 dead, but hundreds of people are still missing.

The victims are particularly numerous in the cities of Van and Ercis, the regional capital, while the authorities are struggling to get numbers in the surrounding villages.

Grieving families prepare to bury relatives on Tuesday, while others continue to watch with heaps of ruins in the hope that rescue teams search for survivors.

The Turkish Red Crescent has distributed 13,000 tents up and he was prepared to provide shelter to about 40,000 people, although it is unclear exactly how many people have lost everything.

The agency, however, was criticized for its inability to help the people most in need, especially in remote villages, while the nights are frigid.

"We received 25 tents for 150 houses. Everyone is waiting outside, we have young children and we are left with nothing," complained Ahmed Arik, leader Amik, a village reduced to rubble in the vicinity Van.

Images on television, you could see men playing violently elbows behind a truck Crescent to try to get a tent.

"I do not think the Red Crescent has been sufficiently effective in the distribution of tents. There is a problem," responded Huseyin Celik, vice president of the AKP, the ruling party, the antenna CNN Turkey. "I apologize to the people."

Shortly thereafter, the President of Turkish Red Crescent said that 12,000 additional tents would be distributed on Tuesday.

"From today, our people will want for nothing," promised the Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay, who oversees relief efforts in Van, became a ghost town despite its million inhabitants.

In the regional capital as Ercis, further north, the aftershocks continue to shake the earth regularly cause panic among the survivors of the earthquake.

With Seda Sezer Ece and Toksabay, Bertrand Boucey for the French service.