A dog was rescued Tuesday after being buried underneath rubble for a staggering 23 days following the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria last month.
The pooch, a husky named Alex, was pulled out from the piles of concrete and building debris near Antakya in the Hatay province of Turkey.
Teams were in the area scouting a location to build temporary shelter for quake survivors when they heard the dog’s faint cries.
They crawled beneath the rubble in search of the pooch.
After one-and-a-half hours, they pulled out the lucky dog and reunited him with his owner who was at the scene.
Video of the rescue showed teams crawling underneath the remains of leveled buildings calling out the dog’s name before a person emerges with the husky in their arms.
Hatay'ın Akcurun Köyü'nde depremin yaralarını sarmak için çalışan Seydişehir Belediyesi ekipleri Alex isimli köpeği enkaz altından canlı çıkarttı.https://t.co/9VFo7SgHLy pic.twitter.com/JHw5pQztN3
— Konhaber.com 🇹🇷 (@konhaber) March 1, 2023
The blue-eyed pup appeared shocked and weak in the footage.
He was given food and water and transferred to Turkey’s Federation of Animal Rights for medical treatment.
A volunteer with the animal rights organization told the state-run Anadolu News Agency that Alex lost a significant amount of weight but was otherwise in good condition.
A second video of the pooch showed him happily panting as he got lots of head scratches and pets from the volunteers.
Hatay, where Alex was rescued, is one the provinces most devastated by the double earthquakes that rocked parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria on Feb. 6. More than 50,000 people were killed across the two countries.