70-year-old extricated from a collapsed building in Turkey said he never lost hope

After a strong earthquake that struck Turkey and Greece on Friday, rescue workers have extricated a -year-old man from a collapsed building in western Turkey. The death toll is now 58 while 896 people have been reported to be injured.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested the death toll in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city, as rescuers extracted more bodies out of fallen structures.

Authorities stated that two teenagers were killed Friday on the Greek island of Samos and at least 19 others were wounded.

Ahmet Citim, 70, was liberated from the rubble quickly after midnight Sunday and taken to hospital. Fahrettin Koca- Turkish Health Minister tweeted that the man said: “I never lost my hope.”

A total of 682 injured people have recovered from mild to moderate injuries and have been discharged from hospitals while 214 are still being operated. T

Turkey’s disaster and emergency agency AFAD said that there have been 850 aftershocks, 40 recording magnitudes stronger than 4.0.

Reports suggest that 20 inadequately built buildings had collapsed entirely.

“Rescue workers are attempting to catch a signal of life of survivors under the wreckage. They maintain about 40 people were stuck under the rubble but some have been unleashed and others died.

"The longer time advances, the fewer speculations there is of finding victims,” people said.

Vice President of Turkey Fuat Oktay stated that 26 severely damaged buildings would be destroyed. “It’s not the quake that kills but buildings,” he said, repeating a common local slogan.

There is a mix of newer and older buildings in Turkey which sometimes involves poor or illegal construction that often leads to severe damages and deaths when earthquakes hit.

The government had tightened limitations to strengthen or demolish these buildings. Under these regulations renewal is undergoing in some cities, however, it not happening fast enough.

Some people are waiting to be reunited with their family members as rescue operations continue.