Photo from Turkey’s Gaziantep shows NDRF personnel involved in rescue operation.
India has been actively involved in earthquake-hit Turkey by providing relief material, rescue equipment and sending medical teams, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Now, a video from Nurdagi in Gaziantep shows an NDRF team using cranes and other heavy equipment near a collapsed building to search for survivors. More than 11,200 people have been killed in the earthquake that levelled buildings in Turkey as well as Syria on Monday. India has also sent six tonnes of relief materials, including life-saving medicines and medical items, in a transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to Syria.
Also Read | “It’s Now A Race Against Time”: Turkey-Syria Earthquake Deaths Top 11,200
Gaziantep is one of the worst-hit cities in Turkey where a number of buildings have been destroyed, some falling like house of cards, by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake. The quake’s epicenter was between Gaziantep and another Turkish city, Kahramanmaras.
The Indian rescue operations are being carried out under ‘Operation Dost’.
“Under #OperationDost, India is sending search and rescue teams, a field hospital, materials, medicines and equipment to Turkiye and Syria. This is an ongoing operation and we would be posting updates,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Twitter on Wednesday.
Relief material has been dispatched in coordination with the Turkish government and the Indian embassy in Ankara and Consulate General office in Istanbul.
Turkish ambassador Firat Sunel appreciated India’s assistance.
“‘Dost’ is a common word in Turkish and Hindi… We have a Turkish proverb: ‘Dost kara gunde belli olur‘ (a friend in need is a friend indeed). Thank you very much India,” he tweeted.
Also See | 5 Pics Of Massive Turkey-Syria Quake That Killed Over 11,200
Both Syria and Turkey have experienced a number of aftershocks (some reports say 300) and follow-up tremors after Monday’s quake.
The destruction led to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declaring a three-month state of emergency in 10 southeastern provinces.
Several countries, including the US and the UK, are sending relief materials and search and rescue specialists to Turkey to help search for survivors of the quake.
