Mavis the parakeet has become a hero (Picture: Tahir Turan Eroglu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A parakeet saved the life of her family by making ‘strange’ noises ahead of Turkey’s devastating earthquake.
Mavis had been bought just three months before the tragedy.
The Cimen family had enjoyed her company at their home in Pazarcik, but noted she rarely sang and was quieter than other parakeets.
But Mavis started to dart round the house and make ‘strange’ noises at dawn on February 6.
As a result, when the 7.8 magnitude earthquake did hit the region, the family were up and able to escape their house.
Mustafa Cimen, 17, told state news agency Anadolu: ‘Half an hour before the earthquake, it made a strange noise at night, when the light was not on.
‘It was flapping its wings and jumping from place to place in the cage.
‘Thanks to the bird, we were not caught asleep by the earthquake.’
Mavis had woken her family by making strange noises during the night (Picture: Tahir Turan Eroglu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Mavis was allowed out of her cage and was friendly towards people, her family said.
The bird had come to be seen as a mascot by residents in the temporary housing where Mustafa is sheltering.
He told Anadolu that dogs the family fed outside their home also began making ‘strange sounds’ before the quake.
The tragedy destroyed thousands of homes and claimed more than 44,000 lives in Turkey and Syria.
She’s since become a ‘mascot’ (Picture: Tahir Turan Eroglu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquake has surpassed 45,000 as anger grows over corrupt building practices.
It has become the worst modern disaster for both countries with the number of deaths still expected to increase.
The agent of Christian Atsu has confirmed that, after an exhaustive search, the footballer has been found dead 12 days after the earthquake in Turkey.
The 31-year-old, who played for Super Lig side Hatayspor, was in his ninth-floor apartment when two devastating earthquakes struck, killing at least 45,000 people across Turkey and Syria.
People sit on the rubble of their former home to protect their belongings after a powerful earthquake in Samandag, Turkey (Picture: EPA)
Shortly afterwards, there had been reports claiming Atsu had been rescued from the rubble, though it soon emerged that was not the case.
The search for the former Chelsea and Newcastle player had continued, with a pair of his shoes found several days ago, and now his agent, Nana Sechere, has confirmed that his body has been recovered.
Turkey has pledged to investigate anyone suspected of responsibility for the collapse of buildings and ordered the detention of 100 suspects.
But neither Turkey or Syria confirmed how many people are still missing following the quake.
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She started to dart round the house and make ‘strange’ noises in the minutes before the earthquake struck.
