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More than 46,000 people have been killed in the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria and the toll is expected to soar, with some 264,000 apartments in Turkey destroyed and many still missing as rescuers listen for signs of life under the rubble.
As Turkey tries to manage its worst modern disaster, concerns were growing over the victims of the tragedy in Syria, with the World Food Programme pressuring authorities in the northwest to stop blocking access to the area as it seeks to help hundreds of thousands of people ravaged by earthquakes.
Twelve days after the quake hit, workers from Kyrgyzstan tried to save a Syrian family of five from the rubble of a building in Antakya city in southern Turkey.
Three people, including a child, were rescued alive. The mother and father survived but the child died later of dehydration, the rescue team said. One older sister and a twin did not make it.
"We heard shouts when we were digging today an hour ago. When we find people who are alive we are always happy," Atay Osmanov, a member of the rescue team, told Reuters.
The death toll in Turkey stands at 40,642 from the quake while neighbouring Syria has reported more than 5,800 deaths, a toll that has not changed for days.
In Syria, already shattered by more than a decade of civil war, the bulk of fatalities have been in the northwest.
The area is controlled by insurgents at war with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad which has complicated efforts to get aid to people.
Thousands of Syrians who had sought refuge in Turkey from the civil war have returned to their homes in the war zone - at least for now.
While many international rescue teams have left the vast quake zone in Turkey, domestic teams continued to search through flattened buildings on Saturday hoping to find more survivors who defied the odds. Experts say most rescues occur in the 24 hours following an earthquake.
Medics and experts voiced concerns over the possible spread of infection in the area where thousands of buildings collapsed last week leaving sanitation infrastructure damaged.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Saturday that although there had been a rise in intestinal and upper respiratory infections, the numbers did not pose a serious threat to public health, adding that measures have been taken to monitor and prevent possible disease.
"Our priority now is to fight against the conditions that can threaten public health and to prevent infectious diseases," Koca told a news conference in southern Hatay province.
Neither Turkey nor Syria have said how many people are still missing following the quake.
For families still waiting to retrieve relatives in Turkey, there is growing anger over what they see as corrupt building practices and deeply flawed urban development that resulted in thousands of homes and businesses disintegrating.
One such building was the Ronesans Rezidans (Renaissance Residence), which keeled over in Antakya, killing hundreds.
"It was said to be earthquake-safe, but you can see the result," said Hamza Alpaslan, 47, whose brother had lived in the block. "It's in horrible condition. There is neither cement nor proper iron in it. It's a real hell."
Turkey has promised to investigate anyone suspected of responsibility for the collapse of buildings and has ordered the detention of more than 100 suspects, including developers.
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Survivors are still being dug out of the rubble in earthquake-hit Turkey, but for many grieving families their only hope is that the remains of their loved ones will be found so they can mourn at their grave site.
"Would you pray to find a dead body? We do ... to deliver the body to the family," said bulldozer operator Akin Bozkurt as his machine clawed at the rubble of a destroyed building in the town of Kahramanmaras.
"You recover a body from under tonnes of rubble. Families are waiting with hope," Bozkurt said. "They want to have a burial ceremony. They want a grave."
According to Islamic tradition, the dead should be buried as quickly as possible.
The head of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, Yunus Sezer, said the search and rescue efforts would largely end on Sunday night.
More than 46,000 people have been killed since the 7.8-magnitude quake struck Turkey and Syria on February 6. The toll is expected to soar, with some 345,000 apartments in Turkey now known to have been destroyed, and many still missing.
Neither Turkey nor Syria have said how many people are still missing following the quake.
Twelve days after it hit, workers from Kyrgyzstan tried to save a Syrian family of five from the rubble of a building in Antakya in southern Turkey.
Three people, including a child, were rescued alive. The mother and father survived, but the child died later of dehydration, the rescue team said. An older sister and a twin did not make it.
"We heard shouts when we were digging today an hour ago. When we find people who are alive we are always happy," Atay Osmanov, a member of the rescue team, told Reuters.
Ten ambulances waited on a nearby street that was blocked to traffic to allow the rescue work.
Workers asked for complete silence and for everyone to crouch or sit as the teams climbed to the top of the rubble of the building where the family was found to listen for any more sounds using an electronic detector.
As rescue efforts continued one worker yelled into the rubble: "Take a deep breath if you can hear my voice."
With sanitation infrastructure damaged, health officials are concerned over the possible spread of infection.
The World Health Organisation estimates that some 26 million people across both Turkey and Syria need humanitarian aid.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to arrive on Sunday in Turkey to discuss how Washington can further assist Ankara as it grapples with the aftermath of its worst natural disaster in modern times.
In Syria, which has reported more than 5800 deaths, the World Food Programme (WFP) said authorities in the northwest of the country were blocking access to the area.
"That is bottlenecking our operations. That has to get fixed straight away," WFP Director David Beasley told Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
The bulk of fatalities in Syria are in the northwest, an area controlled by insurgents at war with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
"Time is running out and we are running out of money. Our operation is about $50 million a month for our earthquake response alone, so unless Europe wants a new wave of refugees, we need get the support we need," Beasley added.
Thousands of Syrians who had sought refuge in Turkey from the civil war have returned to their homes in the war zone - at least for now.
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Australia have enjoyed their best day of the Border-Gavaskar series but the drama-packed second Test against India remains in the balance after a rollercoaster three sessions.
The tourists have a lead of 62 after going to stumps at 1-61, losing Usman Khawja (six) when forced to bat for a tricky 13 overs under lights at Arun Jaitely Stadium in Delhi.
The loss of Khawaja, Australia's top-scorer in their first innings, is a blow but they went about quickly extending their one-run first-innings advantage in attacking fashion to shock India's bowlers.
The recalled Travis Head (39no) opened with Khawaja, filling in for veteran David Warner who was subbed out of the match before play on Saturday with concussion.
Warner was replaced by Matt Renshaw, who is expected to bat at No.5.
Head was controversially dropped for the opening Test defeat in Nagpur based on his poor record in Asia, but looked at home batting at the top of the order, playing aggressively like he does in Australian conditions.
Head will resume batting with star No.3 Marnus Labuschange on Sunday as Australia attempt to further press their advantage in trying to level the series at 1-1.
But the undisputed star of the day was Nathan Lyon, who delivered one of the finest performances of his 117-Test career to finish with 5-67.
Lyon looked out-of-sorts during the first Test in Nagpur, going for 1-126 and was comfortably outbowled by 22-year-old spinner Todd Murphy, who was on debut.
But the 36-year-old could not have responded any better in the Indian capital, bowling with accuracy on a bouncy, turning wicket.
"Whatever we get we have to make sure it's enough... be really brave," Lyon said of Australia's second innings.
"We need to trust the guys' methods when they have the support of the whole change room to go out there and play the way they want to play and the way they think they can combat the quality bowling India have."
After taking 4-13 during a masterful spell in the morning session, Lyon picked up India wicketkeeper KS Bharat (six) to bring up his 22nd five-wicket Test haul.
For the second Test in a row, an Australian debutant took the prized wicket of Virat Kohli (44).
Queensland left-armer Matt Kuhnemann (2-72) broke through for his first Test scalp after the umpire gave Kohli out lbw.
Kohli reviewed the decision, but the third umpire stuck with the on-field decision, much to the displeasure of the 34-year-old and his army of fans.
India slumped to 7-139 and appeared to be crashing to a dire position, but bowling allrounders Axar Patel (74) and Ravichandran Ashwin (37) rescued the hosts.
Patel and Ashwin put on a 114-run partnership - the third-highest eighth-wicket stand by an Indian pair against Australia - to frustrate the tourists.
It took some catching brilliance from Renshaw and Pat Cummins to remove Patel and Ashwin after the dangerous pair got the home crowd back into the game.
But by the end of the play, the Indian fans were as quiet as they have been all series as Head smashed their heroes to all parts of the ground.
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Super League champions St Helens have sealed a World Club Challenge upset over Penrith, beating the reigning NRL premiers 13-12 in golden point.
In front of 13, 873 fans who had to brave an electrical storm at BlueBet Stadium, St Helens became the first British side to win the competition on Australian soil since Wigan defeated Brisbane in 1994.
Halfback Lewis Dodd kicked the winning field goal to seal victory for the visitors.
Spearheaded by mercurial fullback Jack Welsby and veteran hooker James Roby, the Saints became just the third team to beat Ivan Cleary's men at BlueBet Stadium since the start of 2020.
They looked to be heading for victory inside 80 minutes until Brian To'o scored with 90 seconds left.
Nathan Cleary kicked the conversion to tie the game up but a knock-on from Stephen Crichton, who was standing in at fullback for Dylan Edwards, allowed Saints to strike through Dodd in extra time.
"I remember watching Wigan beating that great Brisbane team, a victory like that has never happened since - this is a seismic result," said St Helens coach Paul Wellens.
"It's a monumental victory for us as a club and for the British game.
"We came over here with a determination of getting a result.
"We knew we'd have to scrap to keep them out, but this group keeps turning up for each other."
The Saints were more than a match for the Panthers.
They hit the lead inside 15 minutes with Welsby and Konrad Hurrell crossing.
Penrith needed a circuit-breaker and it came in the shape of a trademark Cleary bomb, with Will Hopoate knocking on a floating kick.
Things got worse for the tourists when they lost winger and first-choice goalkicker Tommy Makinson to a HIA but they were able to repel a clunky Penrith attack to go in 10-0 up at halftime.
The resumption of play was delayed by 10 minutes due to the lightning but when the second half kicked off Saints were able to add a further two points through a Mark Percival penalty.
"St Helens deserved it and handled the conditions better," said Ivan Cleary.
"They took their chances well, I was happy with how we hung in but we stuck at it.
"I don't think you can take anything away from St Helens.
"It didn't take us by surprise, we totally respected what they were going to bring - they're a winning footy team."
The Panthers needed a lifeline and it came in the shape of a smart chip kick from Cleary in the 50th minute.
Welsby flapped at the ball as it went into the St Helens in-goal and Izack Tago scored, with Cleary adding the conversion.
To'o then barged his way over at the death to send the game to golden point.
But it was St Helens' night with Dodd kicking the crucial field goal to send a travelling legion of barmy British fans into a frenzy.
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