A rescue worker in Antakya, Turkey in front of the rubble of a building ravaged by the deadly earthquake in Turkey, Feb. 12, 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — General Mohammad Kheir, Secretary General of the High Relief Committee (HRC), announced Monday that a Lebanese girl has been found alive in Turkey, nearly a week after a deadly earthquake left thousands dead, the state-run National News Agency reported.
"In cooperation with the Turkish-Lebanese Association of Friendship and Culture [Tulyp], Assia Mohammad Ibrahim Chouma was found alive in Turkey and is currently in [Antakya] at the Afad center," said General Kheir, specifying that the HRC "helped her."
The girl's family was contacted and is expected to reunite with her soon, he added.
General Kheir said he personally followed up on "all Lebanese affected by the earthquake in Turkey."
Contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, the Lebanese ambassador in Turkey, Ghassan Moallem, was not able to confirm this information.
The death toll from the massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6 has risen to 35,224, according to the latest official figures.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed 31,643 people in southern Turkey, Afad announced Monday, while authorities counted 3,581 dead in Syria.
The UN said on Sunday that the death toll could "double."