Earthquake death-toll jumps dramatically in Turkey as rescuers sift through debris- 534 dead

October 25, 2011 – TURKEY – In a dramatic rescue that gave hope to those praying for the survival of their loved ones, rescuers in eastern Turkey pulled a baby, her mother and her grandmother alive from the rubble Tuesday, two days after a devastating earthquake. Dramatic video showed tiny Azra Karaduman being carried by rescuers to a vehicle that would take her to the hospital. They were holding a mask over her mouth to help give her oxygen. Later, rescuers pulled the girl’s mother and paternal grandmother alive from the rubble as well. Officials said the 2-week-old girl’s father remained trapped somewhere under the debris of the multiple-story building. Over several hours, four corpses were pulled from the rubble of the same building, officials said. At least one of them was male. Officials did not say immediately whether one of the bodies was the baby’s father. The official death toll jumped to 459 Tuesday, with another 1,352 people injured, the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Relief Agency said. Teams of rescuers throughout the poor region struck by Sunday’s 7.2 -magnitude quake are searching for survivors around the clock. Reaching Azra — who, according to her maternal grandmother, was born three weeks prematurely — was particularly difficult, rescuers told CNN. The baby’s mother managed to make contact with rescuers and get the baby to them through a narrow passage, a rescuer said. Officials had to find a rescuer thin enough to fit into the crevice to get Azra. The rescuer told CNN it was the first time he had ever pulled someone alive from earthquake rubble in 12 years of doing such work. –CNN