Rescue professionals from Ukraine, who are all too experienced with emergencies in a war zone at home, have brought their expertise to Turkey to look for survivors in buildings that were completely destroyed by two powerful earthquakes and provide first aid.
On Thursday February 9, Kyiv dispatched 88 emergency personnel to Turkey to assist with a catastrophe that has claimed more than 20,000 lives in southeastern Turkey and northwest Syria. The team consists of firefighters, doctors, dog handlers, and search and rescue specialists.
“There is a war in our country, but we understand that we have to help, and this aid is mutual,” said Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, spokesman for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian team has built tents near the Turkish city of Antakya close to the Syrian border to provide emergency shelter and set up generators for those left homeless by the earthquakes.
Alongside them were rescuers from Turkey and other countries, including Russia, which had invaded Ukraine a year earlier.
“We will work and distance ourselves from Russian rescuers as far as we can. The coordination centre has informed us that Russian emergency crews are located in a far-off place, and we won’t be able to meet”, Khorunzhyi said.
“People should protect their lives,” he added . “This is the most important thing they have. We sympathise with the Turkish people, the families of the dead and wounded.”
Author-Roberta Appiah
