Images show joy and grief as rescuers race against time in Turkey's post-quake rubble

Aina J. Khan
Updated ·2 min read
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After being trapped for 52 hours, 8-year-old Yigit Cakmak was pulled to safety from a collapsed building on Wednesday, bringing a glimmer of hope to Turkey as it reels from the devastation wrought by two massive earthquakes.

Rescuers in the southern city of Hatay smiled and took pictures as the boy emerged from the wrecked concrete and mangled metal.

Cakmak also smiled and waved as a rescuer carried him away, but after spotting his mother he was overcome with emotion, his face tearing up as they hugged.

Cakmak was joyfully reunited with his mother. (EPA; Getty Images)
Cakmak was joyfully reunited with his mother. (EPA; Getty Images)

There was more good news around 90 miles north in Kahramanmaras, a city of around 600,000.

There, a dusty Arif Kaan, 3, was still wearing his bib and holding his comforter as he was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building. Local media reported that he was transferred to a nearby hospital alongside his father, who had also been rescued.

But for many there was no happy ending.

Mesut Hancer was pictured sitting silently, his face expressionless, as he held his teenage daughter’s hand at another building in Kahramanmaras, her body trapped in the concrete, wire and debris.

Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his teenage daughter, Irmak, who died in the city of Kahramanmaras. (Adem Altan / AFP - Getty Images)
Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his teenage daughter, Irmak, who died in the city of Kahramanmaras. (Adem Altan / AFP - Getty Images)
Hancer sat quietly as others searched the rubble for survivors in the building where she was killed. (Adem Altan / AFP - Getty Images)
Hancer sat quietly as others searched the rubble for survivors in the building where she was killed. (Adem Altan / AFP - Getty Images)

Irmak, 15, was one of more than 11,000 people killed in Turkey and neighboring Syria by the earthquakes, the first of which struck in the early hours of Monday and registered at magnitude-7.8. It qualifies as “major” on the official magnitude scale. Hours later, a second quake, registering at 7.6-magnitude, struck nearby. Officials have warned the death toll will likely rise.

As others searched in the rubble around him, Hancer couldn’t touch any other part of her daughter's body, which appeared to be lying on a mattress, a pink sheet hung down next to him as he shielded his other hand from the bitter winter cold in his orange jacket.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has started to visit the worst affected areas. He was filmed embracing an elderly woman while visiting Kahramanmaras. He is also expected to visit the provinces of Adana and Malatya.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com