Rescue crews search through rubble after hearing what sounded like the cries of a woman and a child    ALSO: Turkey raises taxes for quake relief as Istanbul market skids

August 26, 1999
Web posted at: 6:54 p.m. EDT (2254 GMT)

GOLCUK, Turkey (CNN) -- Rescue crews dug frantically through a mountain of twisted steel and concrete that used to be a five-story apartment block late Thursday, believing someone may still be alive under the rubble 10 days after Turkey's devastating earthquake.

They first started digging in the ruins of the building in the village of Ihsaniye, near Golcuk, after hearing what sounded like the cries of a woman and a child.

"Please save us," were the last words heard, Turkish TV reported, quoting rescuers at the scene.

Betty Arwa, a U.S. volunteer helping in the search effort, said she heard a tapping sound deep inside the rubble.

"I believe I heard with my ears a sort of muffled moan and then, with a stethoscope, knocking on concrete. We asked the person to knock on concrete, if indeed there was a person there, and I believe I heard knocking," Arwa told CNN.

"Nothing has been heard since," she said about four or five hours after first detecting the noises. "There's sort of conflicting opinion on what is being heard. But they will go in and see what they can find. That's all I can do."

Earlier reports said detection equipment had picked up the sound of a heartbeat, but Arwa said that was not true.

The last survivor to be pulled from the rubble was a young child on Monday. The August 17 quake killed more than 13,000 people and injured more than 26,000. Thousands are still missing.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.