Desperate search for quake survivors

By Jonny Dymond BBC correspondent, south-eastern Turkey

There can be few more unhappy places in Turkey right now than the area surrounding the rubble of Celtiksuyu school dormitory.

The rescue workers are the most noticeable. In bright orange suits they sit exhausted around their vehicles, walk back and forth, grab something to eat.

About 50 bodies have been found at the dormitory so far

They are Turkey's earthquake professionals.

The rubble of the building itself is a hideous eyesore. From the side the debris of both the rescue operations and the building's one-time occupants can be seen.

But it is from the front that the scale of the collapse becomes apparent.

The four floors of the building are squashed together, as if a giant had dealt it a blow.

Jammed between the floors are gun-metal grey cabinets, presumably used by the children to store books or clothes.

In front of it all is a growing mound of rubbish, shovelled there by the rescue workers.

Scramble

The rescue work itself changes in pace and style.

Just after dawn it seemed a quiet affair. Twenty or 30 men, or women, climbing tentatively over the ruins, picking their way through to find a gap, a space, a sound.

Dozens of children are still missing

Then as the sun rose higher, more workers clambered onto the structure, until the top was heavy with their bright orange suits.

They drilled and they shovelled, seeking to create gaps where they could not find them.

At one point they became too enthusiastic, the top of the entire structure rocked, sending the rescuers scrambling off the ruins.

And later, when just a few remained on the building, the request for absolute silence went out.

Generators were switched off, mobile phone conversations cut short, whilst an audio sensor was inserted into the top of the rubble.

The hundreds of parents and relatives who have gathered here sat down, stopped crying, talking, shouting at the army who had blocked their way to the rubble, and waited and watched.

But nothing came out of the silence.

Anguish

There have been successes on Friday. Children pulled alive from the concrete, rescue workers cheering and clapping as they passed the pathetically small stretchers over their heads.

But these successes have been few and far between.

Heavy equipment has been brought in to help exhausted rescuers at the school

When diggers moved in around lunch time, tearing chunks out of the compressed rubble, it was clear that the rescue team felt that their only chance was to open up the building rather than waiting for more sound from the children.

It was clear that a new, more desperate phase in the rescue attempt had been reached.

Through it all, the parents and relations have formed an anguished backdrop to proceedings.

Early in the day, women sobbed and wailed for hours on end. But as the day drew on, they fell silent, their vocal grief exhausted.

It seemed more and more likely that the wait for their loved ones would be a long one indeed.

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