Pinoys rescue 10 in Turkey

MANILA, Philippines — Search and rescue teams sent by the Philippine government to help earthquake victims in Turkey have rescued at least 10 persons since arriving in Adiyaman last week.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that as of yesterday, the 82-member Philippine Inter-Agency Contingent had cleared a total of 36 collapsed buildings.

Filipino first responders arrived in Adiyaman, one of the areas most ravaged by the quake, in the afternoon of Feb. 10 and hit the ground running by immediately setting up a field hospital.

On their first day of search and rescue duties, the team aided four victims and rescued five more on Feb. 11.

The NDRRMC said another five persons were rescued on their third day, then found no survivors from Feb. 13 to 15.

Reports showed that the Philippine contingent retrieved at least 124 dead persons from collapsed structures over the last six days.

Meanwhile, the NDRRMC said the Philippine medical team, who also forms part of the contingent, has served some 353 patients from Feb. 11 to 16, providing medical care and assistance to the victims.

So far, items provided to those in need of help include 11,205 blankets, 5,000 bonnets, 420 pairs of gloves, considering the severe weather conditions in Turkey.

Two magnitude 7 earthquakes hit the Turkish region bordering Syria about 12 hours apart on Feb. 6, collapsing buildings and other structures and resulting in the death of nearly 42,000 people as of yesterday.?President Marcos was one of the first leaders to commit and send trained rescue and medical teams to Turkey.

The Office of Civil Defense said the Philippine contingent is composed of 12 members from the 505th Search and Rescue Group of the Philippine Air Force, 21 from the 525th Engineering Combat Battalion of the Philippine Army, nine from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, eight from Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, 30 from the Department of Health and two from OCD.