Two members of Japan's Association for Aid and Relief were trapped under a hotel that collapsed in a magnitude 5.6 earthquake on Wednesday night in Turkey's eastern Van province, but they were pulled out of the rubble alive early on Thursday Todayszaman reported
Miyuki Konnai, who rushed to Turkey to help the victims of the previous quake in Van, was pulled out alive from the rubble of the Bayram Hotel more than five hours after the hotel collapsed, but another staffer, Atsushi Miyazaki, was missing until the morning after the tremor.
The 32-year-old Konnai was reported be receiving medical treatment. "We spoke with her briefly, she is in a hospital at the moment," Ikuko Natori told The Associated Press by telephone from Tokyo, Japan. "She had a slight injury, but it is not life threatening."
Miyazaki (41), who is a doctor, was also rescued alive nearly 13 hours after the quake, which hit the Edremit district of Van at 9:23 p.m. on Wednesday. Rescue workers performed CPR on Miyazaki for about 15 minutes before taking him to the hospital in serious condition.
Three staffers from Japan's Association for Aid and Relief, Konnani, Miyazaki and Yumeka Ota, have been in Van since Oct. 29 to help quake victims after the province was hit by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on Oct. 23. They recently bought animals for sacrifice during Eid al-Adha, which ended on Wednesday, and distributed meat to quake victims.
Ota recently returned to Japan, but Konnai and Miyazaki were still staying at the Bayram Hotel, which collapsed during Wednesday's earthquake. The two Japanese aid workers are currently receiving treatment at a Van hospital.