ANKARA: Rescuers on Wednesday pulled two teachers and a university student from the rubble in the aftermath of a massive earthquake in Eastern Turkey this week, giving some more good news as medical workers now search for bodies in the wreckage. It came a day after a mother, grandmother and two-week-old baby were also saved from underneath the destruction. According to NTV television, 25-year-old teacher Seniya Erdem was pulled from the downed buildings and was given water immediately. Her husband died in the earthquake. Reports have put the number of dead at over 430 and at least 1,300 injured in the 7.2 earthquake that devastated the region near the city of Van, Interior Minister Naim Sahin told reporters. But Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said the death toll was officially at 432 at a news conference on Tuesday evening, but is expected to rise. “Two buildings collapsed in Van, but the telephone system is jammed due to panic and we can't assess the entire damage immediately,” Bekir Kaya, the mayor of Van, told NTV television. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan went to the area on Sunday to assess the damage. “There are so many dead. Several buildings have collapsed, there is too much destruction,” said Zulfikar Arapoglu, the mayor for the town of Ercis told NTV television. “We need urgent aid, we need medics,” he added. The state-run Anatolia news agency said rescue workers were trying to reach people believed to be trapped under the wreckage of a seven-story building in Van, close to the Iranian border. BM
