Turkish president wishes speedy recovery to a teenager after spending 248 hours under rubble

ISTANBUL: President of Turkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan extended his speedy recovery wish to Aleyna Olmez, a teenager who was pulled alive from the debris of a collapsed building on Thursday, 248 hours after the Feb 6 severe earthquake that hit southern Turkiye.

Rescuers found Olmez, 17, alive under the rubble in the Dulkadiroglu district of the Kahramanmaras province. She was then taken to a hospital in the capital Ankara.

Expressing happiness over Olmez good health, Erdogan, who wished speedy recovery to the 'miracle girl', through a phone call on Friday, said he will visit the teenager as soon as he arrives in Ankara, reported Anadolu Agency citing the country's Communications Directorate.

At least 43,885 people have died across Turkiye and neighbouring Syria following the powerful magnitude quake, according to authorities.

The Feb 6 magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 11 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Turkiye in the space of less than 10 hours.

-- BERNAMA