After discovering the two locations with victims, the team handed over those sites to the local rescue force to pull the victims out.
Talking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Maj. Gen. Pham Van Ty, Deputy Chief of the Standing Office of the National Committee for Incident and Natural Disaster Response, Search and Rescue and Deputy Director of the Rescue Department under the VPA’s General Staff, said that at the first site, the Turkish force had brought dead bodies out of the rubble.
At the second site, the Vietnamese team thought there are likely four victims, and local rescuers are working to pull them out.
According to Ty, the VPA team is tasked with searching and detecting sites where there likely be victims to inform the Turkish rescue force in accordance with rules set by the international coordinating body and Turkish authorities.
He added that the digging of collapsed buildings requires heavy equipment and excavators which the team does not have.
Ty affirmed that the VPA team is determined to fulfill the assigned tasks and will always work closely with the international coordinating agency and Turkish authorities to guarantee the most effective search and rescue operations.
As of late February 18 (Vietnam time), the VPA team had helped Turkey identified 14 sites with earthquake victims, including two locations with signs of survivors.
Impressed with the team’s resolve and efforts, Selman Oturk, a Turkish citizen, told the VNA reporter that he is deeply grateful to the team for helping Turkish people surmount these trying times.
Zakaria, an earthquake survivor, thanked the Vietnamese force for helping search for his family members trapped under the rubble.
Maj. Gen. Ty said the sad look and the bows of local residents have made the team members forget all difficulties, stay determined to save people, and consider the search for Turkish victims as the search for their relatives. He said every time the team arrive at the searching site, they are greeted respectfully by local residents who put their right hands on their left chest.
As of February 18, the 7.8-magnitutde earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6 killed over 45,000 people.
