HK Rescuers In Turkey Hope To Find More Survivors

Hong Kong rescue workers in Turkey say they have no plans to end their efforts to find survivors of last Monday’s massive earthquake, even though the “golden 72 hours” for finding people alive in such conditions passed days ago.

Thousands of buildings collapsed following the quake and the number of people confirmed to have died in Turkey and neighbouring Syria has risen to more than 28,000.

On Saturday, a 59-member team from Hong Kong, comprising of firefighters, ambulance crews and officers from different government departments, rescued three people trapped under six metres of debris.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Yiu Men-yeung, who is leading the mission in Turkey's Hatay Province, said on Sunday that the three survivors were conscious and none of them were in a serious condition.

Speaking to reporters through a video call, Yiu said the successful rescue has encouraged the team and they have no plans to leave the country yet.

"In the next few days, we will continue to stay in touch with the international rescue coordination team and let them assign work for us," he said.

"We also saw some areas that were seriously damaged, but where there were no rescuers yet. We will do some inspections in these areas. If residents seek help, we will contact the coordination team and do rescue work if appropriate."

The Hong Kong team have been using drones and search-and-rescue dogs to locate survivors.

Across southern Turkey and northern Syria, millions of people have been made homeless by the quake, with temperatures falling below freezing at night.

The United Nations aid chief, Martin Griffiths, has described the disaster as the region's "worst event in 100 years".