Turkey earthquake: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plane flies rescued babies to safety

As the Turkish Defense Ministry and rescue teams pulled out hundreds of thousands of babies from underneath rubble after the devastating earthquakes, they were flown to safety on board President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's aircraft. Turkish First Lady, Emine Erdogan, tweeted the images of 16 babies snuggled in blankets on the plane bound for capital Ankara. Emine noted that the toddlers were "in safe hands" and had "renewed our [Turkey's] hopes a little bit".

Cumhurbaşkanımızın talimatı ile Kahramanmaraş'tan Ankara'ya Cumhurbaşkanlığı uçağıyla nakledilen 16 depremzede bebeğimizin sağlık durumlarının iyi olması bir nebze de olsa umutlarımızı tazeledi. Devletimizin emin ellerindeler. pic.twitter.com/peaxytPFqh

— Emine Erdoğan (@EmineErdogan) February 8, 2023

Bakım altına alınan bebeklerimizin bundan sonraki süreçlerinin de takipçisi olacağım.
Afetten etkilenen tüm çocuklarımızın iyi haberlerini almayı diliyor, yaralanan yavrularımıza acil şifa diliyorum. @tcailesosyal pic.twitter.com/VSqltUGoKN

— Emine Erdoğan (@EmineErdogan) February 8, 2023

Earthquake ,magnitude : 7.8#AFAD Turkey’s oficial #HELP
organization

20 days baby rescued after staying 60 hours under quake rubble .His mother’s hair found in baby’s palm pic.twitter.com/o2SBtGicEw

— at alay (@54cfb66729644bd) February 9, 2023

Rescuers frantically searching for children, their families

Videos circulationg on social media show kids being pulled out of debris reuniting with their families or being taken to safety. A visual of a little boy being fed water in a bottle cap from Syria after he was pulled out of the wreckage in a 45-hour rescue operation garnered support and solidarity worldwide.

The child, identified as Muhammed Ahmed, from Syria, got trapped under the flattened building after the first 7.8 magnitude quake. Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu acknowledged the rescue workers leading the rescue operation tirelessly and rejoiced that the boy was saved. Search teams and emergency aid has been rushed to Turkey and neighbouring Syria from around the world. 

"We could hear their voices, they were calling for help," Ali Silo, who lost his two relatives in the Turkish town of Nurdagi, told Euronews. 

3’üncü Ordu Komutanlığımızın İstihkam Savaş Tabur Komutanlığı, Adıyaman’da 7 yaşındaki bir çocuğumuzu daha enkazdan sağ kurtardı.
Dayanışma Vakti... 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/uaz6sR2yIw

— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) February 9, 2023

Aferin Muhammed.

Suriye vatandaşı Muhammed Ahmed’i de arama kurtarma ekibimiz Antakya’da enkaz altıdan sağ bir şekilde kurtardı. pic.twitter.com/lSxwSqyex0

— Ekrem İmamoğlu (@ekrem_imamoglu) February 7, 2023

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an earlier speech, had said that an estimated 13 million of the total 85 million population was badly impacted by the earthquake. "It is not possible to be prepared for such a disaster," he said. "We will not leave any of our citizens uncared for," the Turkish President added. 

A state of emergency has been active in at least 10 provinces. World Health Organisation (WHO) has predicted that the fatalities from the disaster could hit 20,000 in days ahead. On Thursday, Erdogan visited the earthquake-devastated areas of Gaziantep, Osmaniye, and Kilis to take stock of the survivors who were now left mostly homeless in the freezing temperatures.