Death toll from Turkey earthquake rises to 38,044

Six more people were rescued alive from the rubble Thursday night in Antakya, Turkey, three of them 260 hours after the massive earthquake struck the region, killing more than 38,000 people.

A 17-year-old girl was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed apartment block in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaras during the day, 248th hour after the earthquake.

About 10 hours later, 42-year old Neslihan Kilic was rescued.

"We had prepared her grave and we asked the rescue workers to stop digging as we feared they would damage the remaining corpses under the rubble. Moments later, her voice was heard from under the ruins of the building," Kilic's brother-in-law said.

In Antakya, after 260 hours, a 14-year-old Syrian, Osman Halebiye, was rescued from the rubble, and an hour later, two more people, 26-year-old Mehmet Ali Sakiroglu and 34-year-old Mustafa Avci, were recovered from the rubble of a private hospital.

But such rescues have become increasingly rare, leaving anger to smoulder as hope dies.

Turkey’s Disaster Management Agency (AFAD) said that the death toll after the earthquakes has risen to 38,044.