Children among those pulled from destroyed buildings in Turkey's Hatay

A father and daughter, a toddler and a 10-year-old girl were among survivors pulled from the ruins of collapsed buildings in the southern Turkish province of Hatay on Sunday.

Monday's earthquake flattened swathes of towns and cities in parts of Turkey and Syria, killing at least 28,000 people by 4.30pm. As rescue efforts enter their sixth day, time for crews to reach trapped victims alive under the rubble is running out, but emergency crews are still finding survivors.

Video released by the Istanbul municipality showed rescuers in Hatay pulling a 10-year-old girl through a hole in the floor of a damaged building before carrying her out on a stretcher.

The girl, named Cudi, had been buried for 147 hours, themunicipality said.

Also in Hatay, rescuers pulled a small child from the rubble of a collapsed building. A video released by the Turkish health ministry showed the child lying silently on a stretcher, bruised and covered in dust, as rescuers carried her to safety.

In central Hatay, a man and his five-year-old daughter Emira were also recovered alive from a destroyed building.

Video released by the Kocaeli municipality on Sunday showed rescuers talking to Emira and her father while they were still trapped under debris.

“Hello beautiful girl, we are here to take you out,” one of the rescuers said.

Around 180 km to the north of Hatay, in the city of Kahramanmaras, 27-year-old Muhammed Habib recited the Koran to rescuers during a 10-hour operation to extricate him.

Video posted on social media showed Habib pumping his fist in the air, yelling “God is greatest”, to the cheers of rescuers below as he was finally winched out by machinery. - Reuters