A Korean rescue team on Thursday pulled a man in his 70s from the rubble in Antakya, southernmost Turkey, ravaged by the region's worst earthquake in modern history.

The team also recovered four bodies from the same site during the rescue and search mission, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul. The survivor was conscious and in relatively good health by the time he was rescued, the ministry added.

He was found hours after the Korean team set up base camp at a high school in Antakya of Hatay province, one of the worst hit parts of the earthquake zone. The death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquakes has risen to more than 15,000 as of Thursday morning. In Turkey, at least 12,391 people have died.

The team consists of 49 military personnel, 62 firefighters and seven government staffers. It is the single largest team dispatched by the Korean government for an international relief mission.