Philippine search, rescue team back from Turkey

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ 82-member team that helped in rescue and recovery operations in quake-devastated Turkey has returned home.

The Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent (PIAHC) composed of search, rescue and medical personnel arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Tuesday night after more than two weeks of helping retrieve victims and clear collapsed structures in Adiyaman.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) joined other government officials in welcoming the PIAHC, which was deployed to Turkey on Feb. 8.

The group conducted humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations following the magnitude- 7.8 earthquake that killed thousands in Turkey.

The team includes 12 personnel from the Air Force’s 505th search and rescue group, 21 from the Army’s 525th engineer combat battalion, nine from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), eight from Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, 30 from the Department of Health and two from the Office of Civil Defense.

The group conducted search and rescue operations in Adiyaman City for more than two weeks.

During the deployment, the team members helped assess 36 buildings and retrieve six cadavers.

The emergency medical assistance team served 1,022 ambulatory cases and referrals of cases or victims requiring hospitalization.

The team was welcomed by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chairman and Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Jesus Domingo and Health Undersecretary Nestor Santiago at the NAIA along with OCD Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, AFP chief Gen. Andres Centino, OCD Assistant Secretary Raffy Alejandro, MMDA Chairman Romando Artes and Turkish Ambassador Niyazi Eyren Akyol.