People queue up for free food served amid the rubble on Thursday following the deadly earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkiye. Rescuers pulled more survivors from rubble on Friday as the window for finding people alive is closing fast.

KAHRAMANMARAS/ANTAKYA, Turkiye — International aid agencies are stepping up efforts to help millions of homeless people — many of whom are sleeping in tents, mosques, schools or cars — 11 days after a massive earthquake hit Turkiye and neighboring Syria, killing more than 43,000.

Two people were reported to have been pulled alive from rubble in Turkiye on Thursday, but such rescues have become increasingly rare.

A 17-year-old girl was extracted from the ruins of a collapsed apartment block in Turkiye's southeastern Kahramanmaras province, broadcaster TRT Haber reported, 248 hours after the magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck in the dead of night on Feb 6.

Footage showed her being carried away on a stretcher covered with a thermal blanket while an emergency worker held an intravenous drip.

About 10 hours later, Neslihan Kilic was rescued.

"We had prepared her grave, and we asked the rescue workers to stop digging as we feared they would damage the remaining corpses under the rubble. Moments later, her voice was heard from under the ruins of the building," Kilic's brother-in-law told broadcaster CNN Turk.

Kilic's husband and two children are still missing.

The quake killed at least 38,044 people in southern Turkiye, officials said on Friday, while authorities in neighboring Syria have reported 5,800 deaths — a figure that has changed little in days.

The United Nations on Thursday appealed for more than $1 billion in funds for the Turkish relief operation, just two days after launching a $400 million appeal for Syrians.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, speaking on Thursday in his first televised comments since the quake hit, said the response to the disaster required more resources than the government had available.

Unspeakable heartache

Neither Turkiye nor Syria has said how many people are still missing.

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths, who visited Turkiye last week, said the people had "experienced unspeakable heartache", adding, "We must stand with them in their darkest hour and ensure they receive the support they need."

For families still waiting to retrieve relatives, there is growing anger over what they see as corrupt building practices and deeply flawed urban development that resulted in thousands of homes and businesses disintegrating.

Turkiye has promised to investigate anyone suspected of responsibility for the collapse of the buildings and has ordered the detention of more than 100 suspects, including developers.

Across the border in Syria, the quake slammed a region divided and devastated by 12 years of civil war. The government says the death toll in territory it controls is 1,414. More than 4,000 fatalities have been reported in the rebel-held northwest, and rescuers say nobody has been found alive there since Feb 9.

The aid effort has been hampered by the conflict. As of Thursday, 119 UN trucks have gone through the Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salam crossings from Turkiye into Northwest Syria after the earthquake, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told Reuters.

Many survivors have fled the disaster zones, but some have decided to stay despite the dreadful conditions.

"We spend our days with bread, soup and meals as part of the aid sent by people. We don't have a life anymore. We are afraid," said Mustafa Akan in Adiyaman, who sleeps outdoors and stays warm by burning wood in a bucket.