The first of two Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams have arrived in Turkey to look for survivors following a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck the country’s southeast and northern Syria on Monday.
Members of the 40-person team said they were anxious to get to work after spending nearly all day on Tuesday on a circuitous journey to reach Adiyaman Province, one of the areas affected by the earthquake.
After first arriving in Istanbul from Taiwan, the group waited for four hours for their connection flight due to heavy air traffic in the southern city of Adana, where they needed to check in at a UN-run disaster response center.
Photo: CNA
They were supposed to board a military plane from Adana to Hatay Province on the border with Syria, but that plan was scrapped at the last minute, and they were asked to board buses and trucks for a six-hour journey to Adiyaman.
Also complicating matters was the state of the roads, as stretches of the highway had been damaged by the earthquake, while recent snowfall had created slippery conditions that slowed traffic and more than doubled their travel time.
“Search-and-rescue work is like responding to a fire,” rescue worker Hsu Yu-wen (許郁文) said of the situation, adding that she felt “anxious and helpless” at being so close to the disaster zone, but being unable to help.
Photo courtesy of Taipei City Fire Department
Reaching the disaster area was even more difficult for members of the media and civilians, many of whom were hoping to reunite with family members affected by the earthquake.
At Istanbul airport, flights to the country’s southeast were delayed by more than five hours on Tuesday due to a combination of poor weather and heavy air traffic.
A Turkish reporter who identified herself as Hana said that her superviser had sent her to cover the earthquake, but all she could think of was her grandmother, whose house had been damaged in the quake and who was without electricity and running water.
Photo courtesy of Taipei City Fire Department
In Taipei yesterday, the Turkish representative to Taiwan thanked the government and Taiwanese for sending donations as well as search-and-rescue teams in the aftermath of the earthquake.
Speaking to reporters at a “Pray for Turkey” event in Taipei, Turkish Trade Office in Taipei Representative Muhammed Berdibek said the quake was “one of the biggest disasters of not only our republican history, but also of our region and the world.”
Immediately after the earthquake, more than 70 countries and 14 international organizations offered aid to Turkey, including Taiwan, he said.
Photo: AP
“In this regard, I would like to thank Taiwan for their solid and immediate support, including sending two rescue teams totaling 130 people and five dogs, for rescue and relief efforts,” he said.
He also expressed thanks for a pledge by the government to donate US$2 million to Turkey.
The office on Tuesday issued a call for in-kind donations to help the quake survivors, he said, adding that it had received more than 2,800 messages and telephone calls as of noon yesterday.
“I am surprised and really grateful to Taiwanese people for their goodwill and kindnesses,” he said.
Berdibek said the office is looking for a warehouse to make it easier for people to drop off in-kind donations and sort the items before they are sent to Turkey.
The office would soon announce details of the arrangements, he said.
The office has called for donations of winter clothing for adults and children, such as overcoats, pants, sweaters, gloves, scarves, mufflers, socks, underwear, beanie hats, boots and raincoats.
People can also donate sleeping pads, sleeping bags, mattresses, blankets, thermoses, flashlights, diapers, sanitary pads, and cleaning and hygiene items, it added.
Meanwhile, Rifat Karlova, a Turkish-born Taipei-based TV show host, told reporters that although he is not from the areas most seriously affected by the earthquake, he has friends who have lost family members in the disaster.
Turkey and Taiwan have shared experiences of strong earthquakes, and Taiwanese are sympathetic about such tragedies, he said.
“I would like to thank you for all of your support and hopefully we will be able to save those who are still trapped in collapsed buildings,” he added.
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