Woman rescued from Turkey rubble

Ms Yaprakci's husband and child are said to be safe and well

Rescuers in the central Turkish city of Konya have found a young woman alive in the rubble of a 11-storey block of flats which collapsed one week ago.

Workers took three hours to free her after she was found with the aid of sniffer dogs and electronic devices.

Her legs had been trapped under human remains in the rubble which entombed at least 83 people.

People clapped and cheered as Yasemin Yaprakci, 24, was carried on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," she said as she was taken away but a doctor said she appeared to have several broken bones in her chest and showed signs of having contracted gangrene.

Ms Yaprakci's husband and one-year-old child both survived the collapse, Turkey's NTV television reports.

'Sandy concrete'

Ms Yaprakci was heard calling for water, rescue official Serdar Demirel told NTV.

The collapse appears to have been caused by faults in the construction

He said she was being given oxygen after being "surrounded by the smell of bodies for days".

On Sunday, rescuers extricated a 16-year-old boy from the rubble of the flats which appear to have collapsed as the result of shoddy construction.

Local media said Muhammet Kalem survived because he was trapped in an air pocket between concrete blocks.

The BBC's Steve Bryant in Turkey reports that the country is prone to earthquakes and the law demands high standards from builders but the building codes seem rarely enforced and earthquakes regularly demolish lethal apartment blocks built on the cheap.

In Konya, there was not even a tremor - the building simply collapsed. Rescue workers on the site say the concrete was sandy and crumbled in their hands.

Two contractors have been detained by investigators.

The block of about 40 flats was home to some 140 people, but many may have had families staying for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

Among rescuers' discoveries have been the crushed bodies of entire families, according to CNN-Turk television station.

As the number of confirmed deaths climbed above 80 overnight, Mr Demirel said he would hold out hope for further survivors until the fate of the 20 people still reported as missing was established.