TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese search and rescue team on Tuesday (Feb. 14) rescued a man from the rubble of a collapsed building in Turkey, 198 hours after a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6.
Members of the International Headquarters S.A.R., Taiwan at 5 a.m. on Tuesday discovered a man still alive trapped inside the rubble of an eight-story building in Turkey's Adıyaman province, according to the organization's website. Team members worked with local engineers and miners to remove obstacles and after about four hours, they successfully rescued the man who had been trapped for 198 hours.
The survivor was identified as 18-year-old Muhammed Cafer Cetin, reported the Daily Sabah. He had been trapped in a seven-story apartment building and had been sent to a hospital, while his mother and brother were still stuck in the rubble at the time of publication.
Taiwanese-Turkish TV show host Ugur Rifat Karlova, better known as Wu Feng (吳鳳), was greatly moved by the news that a Taiwanese team had rescued more of his countrymen so many days after the quake. On his Facebook page, he said he found out about the rescue of Muhammed Enes from Turkish public TV, and he had received many messages from Turks about the Taiwan team's impressive feat.
Karlova said that there was footage on Turkish TV showing Taiwanese and Turkish rescuers hugging each other at the scene. He pointed out that it was a miracle that victims could be saved so many days after the quake occurred, "even on Valentine's Day!"
He closed his post by emphasizing that he is proud of Taiwan's rescue workers.
Video shows the man being rescued from the rubble:
Karlova's Facebook post announcing the rescue:
