ANKARA, Feb 9: A 24-year-old woman buried alive for nearly a week was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed Turkish housing block on Monday, the second "miracle survivor" from a tragedy in which at least 87 died.

Yasemin Yaprakci was exhausted but conscious when rescued after 157 hours without food and water, trapped under rubble, alongside the bodies of relatives killed when building collapsed last Monday in the central Turkish city of Konya.

The woman was calm and controlled during the three hours of work needed to pry her out from under heavy slabs of concrete and dead bodies, rescuers said. The real boost came when Yaprakci was told her one-and-half-year old daughter, Bahar, was still alive and she was able to speak to her husband over a walkie-talkie, rescuers said.

Initial reports suggested her condition was life-threatening. But a doctor at the Gulhane military hospital in the capital Ankara, where she taken by helicopter for emergency treatment, said the young mother was doing fine. "She is not in a critical condition... She has no fractures. She has some air accumulated under the tissue over her lungs," the doctor said.

She was the second miracle survivor to be pulled from the wreckage of the building which collapsed last Monday evening, as many residents would have been celebrating a Muslim festival. -AFP

Opinion

Editorial

GB polls’ aftermath
Updated 11 Jun, 2026

GB polls’ aftermath

The new administration must address the region’s issues proactively.
Peace in retreat
11 Jun, 2026

Peace in retreat

THE ceasefire announced in April was supposed to create space for negotiations. Instead, it has been repeatedly...
A few good men
11 Jun, 2026

A few good men

IT was a brave move, no doubt. This Tuesday, in the land of the Afghan Taliban, a few good men decided to take a...
Centre vs provinces
Updated 10 Jun, 2026

Centre vs provinces

The reason the centre finds itself in this position is rooted in its failure to expand the tax net and boost revenues.
Party in crisis
10 Jun, 2026

Party in crisis

THE young KP chief minister must be starting to realise just how thorny a seat he occupies. There has been a flurry...
Varsity woes
10 Jun, 2026

Varsity woes

FINANCIAL crises affecting public sector universities across Pakistan are now having an impact on academic...