Chinese rescuers were aiding Türkiye quake relief
Highlights
By Zhu Jingning
On Feb 6, two 7.8-magnitude earthquakes hit Türkiye and Syria, flattening buildings and becoming a major concern to the world. The Chinese civilian rescuing teams departed for the earthquake-hit areas to help with the rescuing efforts following the devastating disaster.
The Ramunion Rescue Team, a non-governmental organization from China, was among the first from Zhejiang to go to the quake region. They searched 178 collapsed buildings in four different cities of the earthquake-stricken Antakya, saving 9 people and finding 15 victims during five days with the help of their rescuing dog.
Lucky, a two-year-old dog, found a sign of life and saved a person trapped in the ruins on Feb 10. Trained in a dog base in Baizhang town of Hangzhou's Yuhang district, it has displayed excellent search and rescue abilities on the scene.
The team was interviewed by the CNN Türk before returning and thanked by the head of the local institution Disaster and Emergency Management President (AFAD).
Another rescuing team from Zhejiang Zhuji rescued and provided help to some quake-affected victims, saved a ten-year-old girl on Feb 13 from a five-meter deep ruins under the rubbles after she had been buried for almost 178 hours.
According to the team members, the ruins where the miracle happened was placed with the Chinese and Turkish national flags, which were planted by the local government as a sign to value the joint efforts of the both sides in saving lives. They have raised a donation for the girl's follow-up treatment and life.
Chinese companies are also lending a helping hand. "If you are experienced in earthquake rescuing, please contact me," said Hu Kefei, the chief founder of the Zhejiang GBI Intelligent Equipment Inc, who has provided more than 10 lighting drones free of charge to the BlueSky Rescue Team for international rescuing.
In addition, a group of Chinese wives in Türkiye has been contributing their efforts to disaster relief since the large earthquake struck the nation. According to a chat group of 382 people, they raised donations, purchased supplies for the victims in the disaster, and volunteered to go up the line.
Levent, a Turkish engineer in Hangzhou, contacted his son's school, Hangzhou International School in Binjiang district, and appealed to teachers and students to donate for disaster relief. Several bags full of supplies have left Shanghai on a Turkish Airlines cargo plane to deliver this humble love of the teachers and students.
Love knows no borders. Let's hope the love relay will go on.