Gift of the Givers Rescue 80-Year-Old Woman Trapped Under Rubble After Turkey Earthquake

• Aid organization Gift of the Givers, along with K9 and Omani search and rescue units, rescued an 80-year-old woman buried under rubble in Turkey
• The team used heavy machinery to dig through collapsed buildings and five sniffer dogs to locate live victims.
• The earthquake resulted in over 35,000 deaths in Turkey and Syria, and the country has received assistance from over 10,000 medics and rescuers from 100 countries

An 80-year-old woman was rescued by the aid organization Gift of the Givers, along with the K9 unit and the Omani search and rescue unit, after being buried under rubble for eight days in Turkey following a massive earthquake that hit ten cities in the country.

Rescuers used heavy machinery to dig through collapsed buildings for over two hours. According to News24, Brigadier Vimla Moodley, the head of the K9 team, said the team deployed five sniffer dogs to locate live victims.

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South African sniffer dog comes to the rescue

"It was amazing when the dogs reacted for us and found someone alive because our mission here was to find live victims rather than dead bodies," Moodley said.

A TikTok post shows the moment the woman's body was pulled out. See it below:

Dr Qasim Bhorat, one of the team's rescuers, said the woman was dehydrated but "relatively well" after being stuck under the rubble for eight days. The team had extracted several bodies of deceased people before the K9 dogs directed them to the woman.

"Finding someone and pulling them out is miraculous, and it has boosted the team's spirits to the point that we will push again tomorrow," Bhorat said.

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Imtiaz Sooliman, the organization's founder and chairperson, congratulated the team and said, "When we work together, as a call for humanity, for human beings, there is always a success. We are hopeful that more live persons will be [found] in the building."

The Turkish ambassador in South Africa, Aysegül Kandas, said the recent Gift of the Givers rescue had restored hope that more live bodies might be found.

South Africans praise the K9 unit and Gift of the Givers

The earthquake resulted in the deaths of over 35,000 people in Turkey and Syria, according to Kandas. The disaster covers ten cities with a population of about 15 million. The number of people directly affected is 3.5 million.

The country received assistance from over 10,000 medics and rescuers from 100 countries. Mobile toilets, sleeping bags, generators, gas heaters, and winter tents are among the items needed by the country.

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Here is what some netizens had to say about the rescue:

@Natisha H said:

"Well done South African Esp South African K9 unit"

@Abdullah_Abass_Architect added:

"So proud of you guys! Mashaallah! Gift of the Givers. South Africa "

@My Way said:

"Super proud of our gift of the givers. U shine again"

@Fiona said:

"Gift of the givers, making South African citizens proud, what an amazing animal too "

Government declares state of disaster in 7 provinces

In other natural disaster news, Briefly News reported the South African government's response to recent floods in the country. The affected provinces are Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape.

South Africans shared their opinion on the move:

@MathewScraton said:

"This is a true disaster, not what the government has done with ESKOM."

Source: Briefly News