A 13-year-old boy has been freed from a building in Turkey that collapsed in an earthquake that killed at least 570 people earlier this week.
Rescuers from Azerbaijan pulled the latest survivor out of the debris of a multi-storey building this morning,
Authorities said today that at least 570 people have died and some 2,500 were injured in the earthquake that brought down buildings and left thousands homeless.
Ferhat Tokay was working in a shoe-shop on the ground floor when the quake hit on Sunday.
"With a rock, he tried to open up a hole," the uncle, Sahin Tokay, told NTV television hours after the rescue. "He thumped on walls to try to open up a space for him."
Mr Tokay said the boy also placed shoes under his head and used them as a pillow to sleep, peering through a tiny gap to distinguish between day and night. "He was hungry on the first day, but the hunger pangs later disappeared," he said.
For the family who had anxiously waited outside the crumbled building for days, the rescue was a miracle.
Rescue teams sent the boy's father and other relatives away from the site to get some rest in the early hours of Friday, saying there was no chance of finding him alive. Soon after, they were called back with news that the crew had reached him.
"He didn't even have a scratch on him," the uncle said.
Television footage showed the boy smiling at people standing around his hospital bed from beneath an oxygen mask.
"He said he was hungry and asked for food," he uncle said.
The 213-person team from the Azeri Special Risk Rescue Service, equipped with sniffer dogs, have pulled out 10 survivors since arriving to offer services late Sunday, including 18-year-old Imdat Padak who was brought out late yesterday.
The government's crisis management center said a total of 187 people have been freed from rubble alive. Search and rescue operations have ended in the provincial capital of Van, but were continuing in Ercis.
Turkish authorities delivered more tents after acknowledging distribution problems that included aid trucks being looted before they reached Ercis. Tents, prefabricated homes, blankets and heaters also started arriving from a dozen countries, after Turkey said asked for assistance to help shelter people left homeless in near-freezing conditions.
Israel, which has a troubled political relationship with Turkey, sent emergency housing units, blankets and clothing. Britain, Ireland, Germany, Russia, Romania and Ukraine also contributed.
About 2,000 buildings have been destroyed and authorities declared another 3,700 buildings unfit for habitation.
AP