Search continues for missing Filipina, children in quake-hit Türkiye
MANILA, Philippines — Nearly a week after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Türkiye, the Philippine Embassy in Ankara said search and rescue operations for Filipino nationals continue as the death toll in both Türkiye and Syria hit over 28,000.
“The embassy has sought the assistance of search-and-rescue teams in Hatay City on the status of a missing Filipino and their children, feared to be still under rubble,” a statement dated February 12 read.
“This has been confirmed by her husband and her sister-in-law, both Turkish nationals.”
The embassy said the Filipino community in Türkiye has also mobilized to help. Embassy personnel are present in Mersin, less than 100 kilometers from Adana and around 250 kilometers from Hatay City.
Meanwhile, the embassy welcomed the Department of Migrant Workers' plan to send a team of their own to assist overseas Filipino workers.
"This will be the first-ever joint interoperability exercise to provide migrant protection in times of crisis between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the newly established [DMW]," the embassy said.
Almost 26 million people have been affected by the earthquake, the World Health Organization (WHO) said as it launched a flash appeal on Saturday for $42.8 million to cope with immediate, towering health needs.
Several countries — such as the Philippines, Germany, and Austria — have sent over rescue teams to help with local operations in Türkiye. The Philippine Humanitarian Contingent has been assigned to conduct tasks like structure assessment in Adyaman Province, looking for other survivors, and to put up satellite field hospitals for patients and injured personnel.
But security concerns led some aid operations to be suspended, and 48 people have been arrested for looting or trying to defraud victims in the aftermath of the quake, state media reported.
Austrian soldiers and German rescue workers called off their searches for several hours on Saturday in southern Hatay, citing a difficult security situation amid shooting between local groups. — with reports from Agence France Presse / Fulya Ozerkan and Omar Haj Kadour
- Latest
- Trending
