The families of earthquake survivors rejoice as their loved ones are pulled out of collapsed buildings as local and international rescue teams race against time.
The residents of Adiyaman, one of the 10 provinces rattled by Monday’s powerful tremors, received relief from two international search and rescue groups from Pakistan.
‘Don’t lose hope’: Pakistani rescuers help Turkies
Over 18,300 people died in the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey early this week. Hope endures despite relentless rescue efforts.
On Tuesday, Pakistan Rescue 1122 and two military teams carrying 33 soldiers and specially-trained sniffer dogs landed in Türkiye.
The rescuers have so far rescued five survivors in Adiyaman.
A Pakistani official who followed the team’s work said, “Pakistani soldiers rescued alive two trapped residents in the region, while members of Pakistan Rescue 1122 pulled three people out of the debris,”.
Adana province was served by three C130 military transport planes from Pakistan, while Istanbul was served by two Pakistan Airlines flights.
It is expected that another C130 flight will land on Friday carrying medical supplies.
Officials from Islamabad’s National Disaster Management Authority are coordinating search and rescue operations with Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).
The official explained that AFAD is deploying search and rescue personnel on the basis of needs assessment after landing in Turkey.
The Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul route is also being considered by Pakistan to ship earthquake relief.”
Ambassador Yousaf Junaid and Pakistani Embassy staff visited a municipal donation point in Ankara to distribute relief goods for earthquake victims, including jackets, shoes, food, water, baby food, diapers, and sanitary items.
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According to Junaid, Turkey will emerge stronger than ever from this catastrophe with the traditional Turkish spirit of overcoming all obstacles and defeating all challenges.
Resources mobilized, Pakistani diaspora
A prominent foundation in the South Asian country has reached out to the diaspora for assistance following the earthquake in Türkiye.
Abdus Shakoor, vice president of Al Khidmat Foundation, told Anadolu on Thursday that the foundation’s appeal for earthquake relief in Turkey and Syria has been successful. In the wake of Monday’s earthquakes, he flew to Istanbul.
Its volunteer force of over 60,000 helped mitigate the devastation caused by unprecedented floods last year in a nation of over 220 million people.
The Al Khidmat Foundation “has also appealed to Pakistanis living abroad, the diaspora, to help the people of Turkey and Syria.”
It is our intention to raise funds to meet the needs of those affected by these earthquakes from Pakistanis in the UK, the US, Europe, Australia, and other countries in which they live.
A total of 18,342 people have been reported dead and 74,242 others have been injured in two earthquakes that have hit southern parts of Turkey and were also felt in nearby countries, such as Syria and Lebanon.
Six thousand four hundred and forty-four buildings were destroyed due to the powerful quakes that occurred in less than 10 hours and were felt in nearby countries such as Lebanon and Syria as well.
In the 10 provinces which are most affected by the earthquake, the Turkish government has declared a state of emergency for a period of three months: Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Kahramanmaras, where the epicenter is located.
According to Shakoor, the Al Khidmat team in Türkiye also assisted with the search for Pakistani nationals living in the immediate vicinity of the disaster.
It has been identified that around 40 students and 50-60 families are under the foundation’s care, he said, adding that they have contacted around 30 students and “have shifted some of them to the province of Adana and have contacted their families back home in Pakistan.”.
A 47-member Search and Rescue team has been flown from Pakistan to Türkiye by the foundation as part of its ongoing humanitarian efforts, Shakoor said.
In addition to being equipped with modern search and rescue equipment, the crew was approved by Turkey’s AFAD for its operations.
Among the physicians registered as members of Al Khidmat, Shakoor said, is a specialist orthopedic surgeon from among the diaspora community of Pakistan.
He added that he was looking forward to the day when the Turkish Ministry of Health gives the green light and they fly into Turkey.
Currently, the focus of rescue efforts is on finding people who have been buried under the debris and rescuing them.
As a renowned Pakistani social worker said, “there is a program run by Al Khidmat to organize Pakistanis living in Turkey for various aspects of search, rescue, and relief operations, including the collection of warm clothes and food, as well as blood donation.”
“We are coordinating with the IHH (Humanitarian Relief Foundation) and other organizations for food distribution, installation of tents, and distribution of beddings,” he said, referring to a major Istanbul-based charity that has operations across the country and overseas.
“We are also working on buying and setting up mobile kitchens,” he said, adding that his team is analysing the evolving situation in the aftermath of earthquakes “and will decide how to move forward and approve various projects in coming week.”
A total of more than 120,344 search and rescue personnel are currently working in the disaster zone, according to AFAD, with 30,360 people evacuated from areas affected by the quakes and following 243 aftershocks.
