Türkiye quake survivor narrates how he lived off cigarettes under debris

A Turkish earthquake survivor who was pulled alive from rubble in southeastern Adiyaman province with a partially-smoked cigarette in his mouth has spoken of his miraculous escape and time spent under the debris. 

Ziya Soner Tugtekin, 60, who was rescued with his son 56 hours after the quake said he turned to his cigarette for comfort while he was under the debris of an apartment building.

"I don't know how many days we waited under the rubble. I don't know how this time passed. I had my tobacco with me, I was rolling and smoking tobacco when no one came," Tugtekin told Anadolu Agency.

"When I was pulled out of the rubble, I had the cigarette in my hand, they told me to throw it away. I didn't because I came to life with a cigarette," he added. 

He advised people to be cold-blooded and not get excited during disasters.

"At the time of the earthquake, when my daughter and my wife were trying to come to me, the ceiling collapsed on them and my wife and daughter died there," he said. 

"My son, Deniz, who is around 85 kilogrammes, was stuck between the seat and his rib was damaged."

READ MORE: 'It slid down 30 metres': Türkiye quakes bisect Demirkopru village

The video of Tugtekin with a cigarette has gone viral since then. 

During the rescue, the cigarette was getting in the way of him trying to wrap his arms under a blanket on a stretcher, and one of the rescuers can be heard saying: "Uncle just drop that cigarette and lay on your back. I'll give you one once we're at the hospital."

But Tugtekin appeared to be completely unfazed and continued to attempt to smoke the cigarette, saying he would rather have a cigarette and did not want to go to hospital, amazing rescuers.

As he was strapped to a stretcher in order to be taken to hospital, he still had a cigarette in his mouth as rescuers from the Turkish Engineering Battalion of the 3rd Army Command then picked him up and carried him to safety.

Powerful earthquakes

At least 40,642 people have been killed and over 108,000 injured in two powerful earthquakes that rocked southern Türkiye on February 6, according to the latest figures.

The 7.7- and 7.6-magnitude earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 11 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Elazig and Sanliurfa.

The quakes were followed by over 5,700 aftershocks, officials say.

READ MORE: 'Please find a piece of her': Prayers to find bodies under quake debris