Turkey-Syria earthquakes: 16 babies pulled from rubble flown to safety on presidential plane

The babies were pulled from the rubble in the city of Kahramanmaraş and have been flown to Ankara

Turkey's youngest earthquake survivors have been flown to safety in President Erdogan's private plane.

The youngsters, who are all under the age of one, were pulled from the rubble in the city of Kahramanmaraş and have been flown to Ankara.

According to a tweet from Derya Yanık, Turkey's Family and Social Services Minister, the whereabouts of the children's parents is unknown but all of them appear in good health.

She went on to say the children would be checked over by doctors once in Ankara and would then be taken into care.

President Erdoğan's wife Emime has also been tweeting about the rescue and says she will be following the babies' progress.

Turkish news channels are reporting 79 rescued children are currently without their families.

In an effort to reunite them with their loved ones - if old enough - they will be interviewed and their details will be uploaded to a government portal.

The children will be given a coloured wristband, depending on which city they were rescued from.

Due to kidnapping fears - families will need to provide evidence such as birth certificates and photographs to take their children home.

Facial scans and other tests will be carried out before agreeing to hand over children, according to Turkish news outlets.

The babies' airlift comes as President Erdoğan is receiving ongoing criticism that the Turkish Government’s response to the disaster has been too slow.

The president has hit back, saying "dishonourable people" were spreading “lies and slander” about the government's actions.

Erdogen is scheduled to travel to some of the worst-hit provinces - Gaziantep, Osmaniye and Kilis amid ongoing criticism on Thursday.

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