Days after devastating earthquakes that struck southeastern Türkiye on Feb. 6, search and rescue teams from several countries returning back from the quake zone recounted their experiences, expressing their feelings while conducting the intense rescue operations.
Rescue teams from 80 countries around the world came to help Türkiye in relief work, the Foreign Ministry said. The teams were deployed in 10 earthquake-hit provinces. A few of them, including Greek, Chinese, British, German, Bosnian and Polish teams, spoke to Anadolu Agency (AA) on Wednesday and Thursday.
Ioannis Papastathis, the head of a Greek rescue team, told AA at Istanbul Airport that his team includes 27 people who are from different parts of Greece. Papastathis stated the team came to Türkiye on Friday to conduct rescue operations in Adıyaman province right after the earthquakes.
Praising Turkish people, he shared that they did not encounter any problems since they arrived. "We made friends while conducting rescue efforts in the province and together we worked with them,” he added, stating that the local people in Adiyaman always supported them.
Yuan Jiongming, head of the 11-person Chinese volunteer team, told reporters what he experienced in the earthquake area was "very sad."
Stating that they want to save more lives and make great efforts for this purpose, Jiongming said the team pulled out 12 people from the wreckage of destroyed buildings and recovered one body.
"We have seen a similar, though not as massive, tragedy in China but it's a much bigger disaster,” he lamented.
Another Chinese rescuer, Wang Geng, after returning from the town of Kırıkhan in Hatay was gifted a pigeon by an old man. "The pigeon represents peace and good wishes," Wang told AA.
"We may not be able to take the pigeon with us... but we understand the message you have given to us and we will pass it on to our people," the rescuer conveyed to the man.
The first part of the name of the town, "Kırık," means "broken," while the second part, "han," means a "house" or "inn" which provides accommodation, food and drink, especially for travelers. This also describes the town's current situation as international rescuers are battling the Himalayan challenge of two earthquakes amid the bone-chilling cold.
German rescue teams have also returned to the country after spending the past week in Türkiye to save earthquake victims from the rubble.
Dr. Daniel Lankers, a member of the team from International Search and Rescue (ISAR) Germany, said they worked tirelessly to save lives in the earthquake region and were impressed by the fortitude and courage of the people.
"I have the utmost respect for the people I met there, who didn't lose hope and kept fighting to save their loved ones from the rubble," he told AA at Cologne Bonn Airport.
"All my wishes and hopes go to the people of Türkiye. They are incredibly strong people who have not stopped fighting and they continue to do so. All the best to you," he said.
Despite difficult conditions, all rescue and relief teams on the ground in southern Türkiye are working around the clock to help the victims of last week's deadly earthquakes, according to a British volunteer, who said he has never seen anything "as bad as this."
The leading Islamic charity has been on the ground to help with relief efforts since day one of the earthquakes last Monday with 160 staff members.
Salah Aboulgasem, who is currently in Kilis, is one of them. Kilis is among the 10 provinces hit worst by earthquakes. He has worked with Islamic Relief for 16 years and arrived in Türkiye on Monday for the humanitarian mission.
"The people are doing as much as they can. We've been working in 20-, 21-, 22-hour days ... teams are working around the clock," he noted.
He went on to say that by helping needy families, they were also assessing how they could help them in the medium and long term as "aid is always dictated by needs."
"Our aid is always dictated by needs, is always dictated by the challenges, is always advised by the situation here on the ground. We can't dictate what the needs are, we have to understand them, and then, depending on how they are, we have to operate accordingly."
Touching upon the situation and scale of the earthquake in southern Türkiye, Aboulgasem said he had never seen any disaster so severe in his 16 years of relief work.
No rescue team can be trained enough to work in a disaster like in Türkiye, where twin earthquakes devastated 10 cities on Feb. 6, a rescue team leader from Bosnia-Herzegovina said Wednesday.
Adi Vrabac, team leader of the Mountain Rescue Service of Kanton Sarajevo, spoke to AA at the airport in Hatay province before boarding a return flight to his country with his group of nine, after completing their mission in the earthquake zone.
Speaking about the scale of devastation caused by the quakes in Hatay, Vrabac said: "It was very difficult. We are trained but no one is trained for this. No one is prepared for this."
He shared that he watched videos about how "beautiful" the city was before the disaster and that the difference between what it was and what he saw at the zone is "unimaginable."
"Operations were very difficult, especially in the last couple of days. Because we were finding a lot of bodies," he shared.
"For the people in general, I just can't admire enough the strength and resilience that they exhibited," Vrabac said. He also noted that another group of 40 from Bosnia-Herzegovina is still in the zone, continuing their operations.
A Polish rescuer shared that the devastation from last week's twin earthquakes in Türkiye was "huge."
Maj. Jakub Filip, liaison officer of the USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) from Poland, told AA that it was indeed a difficult mission for him to lead.
"It was my first mission after the earthquake. It was really difficult for me as well. I was expecting a huge disaster but this cataclysm was huge, (very) huge."
Filip, who said that the rescue team from USAR Poland comprises 76 people and eight dogs, noted they managed to rescue 12 people alive from under the rubble.
He said apart from the devastation "what I observed during our operations is that people are gathering together to help others, to rescue and save others from the debris."
"I hope that they will be working together for the future to build new places to live, and also they'll be way stronger in the future," he concluded.
