New Delhi: Two battalions comprising 100 personnel from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and two trained canines are ready to be sent for search and rescue operations to Turkey where an early-morning earthquake and its strong aftershocks have killed nearly 1700 people.
Once a clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs is received, the two battalions — one from Ghaziabad and the other from Kolkata will fly to Turkey later on Monday.
Speaking to ThePrint, NDRF chief Atul Karwal said these are personnel who hold international certification to carry out relief work abroad. These teams, Karwal said, have taken proper training for the such work.
“These teams specialise in ‘Collapsed Structures Search and Rescue (CSSR)’, which is also known as ‘Urban Search and Rescue (USAR)’. Both teams have been kept on standby, they are ready. Once we receive a go ahead from the government, they will be sent. The earlier we reach there to start the relief work, the better,” he said.
“Two canines, one with each team, will also be flown to Turkey for the operation. They are both trained to detect live victims under rubble,” Karwal said.
The government is in touch with Turkish counterparts to ascertain how many personnel are required and at which locations. Teams would be sent according to that assessment.
Karwal added the teams would also be taking all required equipment like cutters to break into collapsed structures and remove rubble.
Besides this, medical teams are also being readied with trained doctors and paramedics with essential medicines, the official said.
This is not the first time that India is sending NDRF teams for relief work abroad. Personnel were sent during the Japan triple disaster in 2011 – an earthquake, tsunami and a nuclear meltdown — and the Nepal earthquake in 2015.
“Those efforts were acclaimed globally. The force is fulfilling these responsibilities with its rigorous training regime and diligent application of skills on the ground,” Karwal said.
A major earthquake of magnitude 7.8 hit Turkey and Syria in the dark hours of the morning, and was followed throughout the day by multiple aftershocks, including two severe ones of 7.5 and 6 magnitudes.
The epicentre of the first earthquake was in Gaziantep, about 90 kilometres from the Syrian border, which flattened buildings and tremors were felt as far away as Iraq. This is the region which houses millions of refugees from the Syrian civil war.
According to reports, the head of Syria’s National Earthquake Centre, Raed Ahmed, told pro-government radio that this was “the biggest earthquake recorded in the history of the centre”.
At least 326 people died in government-controlled parts of Syria, according to the latest count. At least 912 people also died in Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an initial briefing.
Also read: All about the Alpide Belt that makes Turkey a hotbed for devastating earthquakes