Turkey earthquake: Survivors dwindle but hope doesn't as UK aid workers help rescue teams

ITV News joined British aid workers joining the search for survivors in Turkey, Peter Smith reports

Words by ITV News Producer Catherine Dinneny

Five days on from an earthquake, survival rates are desperately low... just 6%.

It's been a logistical nightmare for humanitarian workers scrambling to Turkey to help with the rescue effort. For many living here, by the time any meaningful help arrives, it is simply too late.

Our team - ITV News Correspondent Peter Smith, cameraman Mike Field and producer Catherine Dinneny - followed UK-based search and rescue team SARAID to Kahramanmaras, Turkey.

The city, in the country's south, has been flattened after it was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.5 magnitude. It came just hours after the initial 7.8 magnitude earthquake near Gaziantep on Monday.

We joined the volunteers in the city centre, where they had been called to a site after voices were heard in the rubble.

As we arrived, dozens of locals were stood on top of the concrete mountain, rifling through it. Few were wearing helmets, such little regard for their own personal safety as they searched in anguish for any survivors.

Dozens more watched on. Women sat on the floor, crying. Men stood nearby, nervously waiting and hoping.

The diggers stopped and there were shouts for people to fall silent. There was no response. The SARAID volunteers were joined by a German team with a search dog. Those on top of the building were compliant in coming down to let the dog do its work, but once it had finished it didn't taken them long to clamber back up and start picking it apart. There is no time to waste.

Then, moments later, cheering. They had found a survivor. These are the miracles people here cling to, but as every night passes, chances of those miracles dwindle, and for every survivor found, countless more are pulled out in body bags.

One of the volunteers, Alex Kerr, told us: "I don't think anyone can comprehend the scale of destruction that has affected Turkey. You can't really put it into words, to be honest."

Steve Jeffrey, who runs a construction company, told us it is tough on his family.

"It's difficult for them. We've had some honest conversations with my children and one of the reasons I do it is if something ever happened like this in our country, I'd want to know that someone was coming for my kids or my loved ones," he said.

But the chance of a rescue is what keeps them going. On Wednesday, mere moments after arriving in Kahramanmaras, the team helped pull a woman and her baby from the rubble.

Another international team had been trying to get to her for 24 hours, but a radiator was blocking their way. Using their specialist equipment such as excavators and 360 degree cameras, the team managed to get to them. It had taken another nine hours, but they were safe.

Engineer Mark Scorer told us about the moment they realised they were still alive.

He said: "When her hand reached out and grabbed the camera it was a shock but a great surprise. I could then hear, not through the camera but with my ears, that there was a small child and that was the hope we wanted."I've got a little girl and when I saw her climbing over Matty and into me, I can't help but think of her mother and child."He added: "It wasn't all happy, they'd lost others in there but it was unbelievable and that's the reason why we do it. We keep going until we're told to stop."

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