Two members of Japan’s Association for Aid and Relief who were trapped under a collapsed hotel in a magnitude 5.7 earthquake on Wednesday night in Van, eastern Turkey, were rescued from the rubble early on Thursday but one of them died soon after his rescue.

Van / NationalTurk – Miyuki Konnai, who rushed to Turkey to help the victims of the previous earthquake in Van, was pulled out alive from the rubble of the Bayram Hotel more than five hours after the hotel collapsed, but another aide, Atsushi Miyazaki, was missing until the morning after the quake.

The death toll on the second earthquake in two weeks in eastern Turket province Van is rising. 17 is confirmed to be dead with many still to be considered under the rubbles

The 32-year-old Konnai was reported be receiving medical treatment. ‘We spoke with her briefly, she is in a hospital at the moment,’ Ikuko Natori told The Associated Press by telephone from Tokyo, Japan. “She had a slight injury, but it is not life threatening.”

Japanese doctor could not escape 5.7 earthquake in Turkey

Atsushi Miyazaki (41), who is a doctor, was also pulled out of the rubble alive nearly 13 hours after the earthquake, which hit Van at 9:23 p.m. local Turkish time on Wednesday evening. Rescue workers performed CPR on Atsushi Miyazaki for about 15 minutes before taking him to the hospital in serious condition. He died at the hospital hours after his rescue.

Three aide members from Japan’s Association for Aid and Relief, Konnani, Miyazaki and Yumeka Ota, have been in Van since Oct. 29 to help earthquake victims after the province was hit by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on Oct. 23. They recently bought animals for sacrifice during Eid al-Adha, the muslim feast of sacrifice, which ended on Wednesday, and distributed meat to earthquake victims in Van and surounding region.

Ota recently returned to Japan, but Konnai and Miyazaki were still staying at the Bayram Hotel, which collapsed during Wednesday’s earthquake.

 

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