KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey/JANDARIS, Syria (Reuters) -- Two women were pulled from the rubble in Turkey’s southern city of Kahramanmaras on Wednesday, even as hopes to find survivors from last week’s devastating earthquake dwindled and the focus switched to giving survivors some relief.
Rescuers could be seen applauding and embracing each other in a video posted to social media as an ambulance carried away a 74-year-old woman rescued after more than nine days trapped in rubble.
Earlier in the day, a 46-year-old woman was rescued in the same city, close to the epicenter of the quake.
The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria has climbed over 41,000, and millions are in need over humanitarian aid, with many survivors having been left homeless in near-freezing winter temperatures. Rescues are now few and far between.
In hard-hit Kahramanmaras, where the earthquake forced hundreds of families to live in tents erected in a stadium in freezing temperatures, empty buildings with their walls ripped open showed the power of the earthquake.
With much of the region’s sanitation infrastructure damaged or rendered inoperable by the earthquakes, health authorities face a daunting task in trying to ensure that survivors now remain disease-free.
“We haven’t been able to rinse off since the earthquake,” said Muhammad Emin, a 21-year-old graphic design student, as he carried flu medicine from the clinic of the city’s open-air stadium.
Batyr Berdyklychev, the World Health Organization’s representative in Turkey, has warned that the water shortage in quake-hit areas “increases the risk of waterborne diseases and outbreaks of communicable diseases.”
The government encouraged people to go back home, if and when authorities have deemed their building

modern world, have once again reasserted their determination to strengthen friendship and take firm steps toward homogeneous development, strategic partnership and a promising and prosperous future for the humankind.
Earlier in the day, President of Peking University Hao Ping granted an honorary academic title in recognition of President Raisi’s services and actions as to the enhancement of ties between Iran and China and promotion of regional and international peace and stability.
The ceremony was held in the presence of the dean, professors and students of the university.
The award has been approved by the scientific council of Peking University.
Additionally, four professors of Peking University were acclaimed for their efforts in the field of Iranian studies and teaching the Persian language.
On Tuesday Raisi says Iran and China are “friends in hard times,” stressing that further strengthening of relations between the two countries will contribute to the security of the region and the world.
In a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, the Iranian president underscored the need for implementation of a strategic 25-year agreement between the two countries, which he said is “pivotal” to peace and stability in the region.
“Despite opposition from the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and China to the consolidation and expansion of relations between the two countries, these relations have taken great strides thanks to the favorable management of the parties,” he said.
Raisi lauded China’s positive and constructive role in talks on removing anti-Iran sanctions. He also referred to the failure of European countries to meet their obligations, saying, “Western countries once again made miscalculations about Iran.”
President Xi, for his part, China firmly believes in the development of relations with Iran.
Xi emphasized the need to confront unilateralism, foreign interference, and threats to security and stability in the region and across the world.
Xi voiced the Chinese government’s readiness to support the companies that are willing to invest in Iran.