Brothers survive 198 hours under debris in Turkey by 'drinking protein shakes and urine'

A massive search and rescue effort is underway in Turkey, with volunteers and authorities racing against time to find survivors trapped under the debris left by a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6.

Two brothers were rescued after 198 hours of being trapped under the rubble in Kahramanmaras City on Thursday. The survivors, Muhammed Enes Yeninar, 17, and his 21-year-old brother, Abdulbaki Yeninar, have said that they survived on protein shakes.

"My brother is doing bodybuilding and is interested in sports. We prayed while we were under the rubble. There was air coming in," said Abdulbaki.

"I was very comfortable. I knew I would be saved. I just prayed," Abdulbaki told the Ihlas News Agency. The New York Times reported that they also drank their own urine to stay alive. Their mother was rescued two days before them and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in the nearby city of Kayseri.

Stories of people being pulled alive after hours of being stuck under flattened buildings have been hitting the headlines everyday.

This does give some hope to people who are still looking for their loved ones. But experts claim that the chances of survival are only decreasing with each passing day. The cold rain and snow have only made rescue efforts difficult.

Some experts claim that people may survive for up to a week, depending on the injuries they have suffered.

More than 41,000 people have been killed across Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake. Millions of people have been left displaced in both countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 south-eastern provinces. The Syrian Red Crescent has urged western countries to remove sanctions and help with the relief efforts.

A report in AFP News claimed that residents of the quake-hit town of Jandairis in northern Syria were seen looking for survivors using their bare hands and pickaxes.

"My whole family is under there -- my sons, my daughter, my son-in-law... There's no one else to get them out. I hear their voices. I know they're alive but there's no one to rescue them," a Syrian citizen named Ali Battal told the publication.

Meanwhile, several countries have extended humanitarian assistance to disaster-hit Turkey and Syria. Food, aid, and rescue workers are being rushed to the countries to fast-track the search and rescue operations. The World Health Organisation has also sent health supplies to both Turkey and Syria.