Family of five rescued after 40 hours under earthquake rubble in Syria

The White Helmets rescue group pulled a family of five from under the rubble of a fallen building on Wednesday, 40 hours after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake first hit Syria and Turkey.

The rescue brought a rare moment of joy during a disaster that has so far killed more than 11,200 people.

In a video the group shared of the operation, a rescuer shouts "Yousef, come to me," as he reaches into the darkness under piles of debris that once made up the family home in Idlib.

Rescuers first pulled out the father, who they carried off on a stretcher, then a young child who looked around her in confusion at what appeared to be hundreds of people cheering on in joy.

A boy and another girl, all about the same age, were taken to an ambulance.

In the video, their father who was now standing, seemed overjoyed, screaming in bewilderment from inside the ambulance as his children arrived one by one.

Another hamper with a person covered in a blanket was then brought in.

"She's alive! She's alive!" a man said, referring to the children's mother.

The family is generally in "good health", White Helmets rescuer Fatima Abid, who was at the scene, told The National.

"Our joy as volunteers and the families was very strong. It gave us motivation and excitement to keep going and keep doing our work with maximum capacity and ability," she added.

Another White Helmets rescuer called the operation a "victory and great accomplishment".

Residents said there were 13 buildings in that neighbourhood, all of which were destroyed. Temperatures continue to drop and aid is yet to arrive through Turkey to north-west Syria.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Duminy's Test career in numbers

Tests 46; Runs 2,103; Best 166; Average 32.85; 100s 6; 50s 8; Wickets 42; Best 4-47

Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.