LAHORE – A team of The Punjab Emergency Service, Rescue-1122, taking part in the rescue and relief operation in Turkiye has taken at least 15 people out of the rubble alive so far.
A Mw 7.8 earthquake shook Turkiye and Syria on February 6, killing thousands of people and destroying several residential and commercial buildings in the two Muslim countries.
The death toll from the earthquake in the two countries has surpassed 46,000 so far.
A Rescue-1122 spokesperson said the Pakistani team of rescuers retrieved three bodies from the rubble of buildings in Hatay on Sunday. The team has searched 146 locations for survivors and the dead in the Hatay and Adiyaman regions. The team searched 184 dead bodies and retrieved 63 from the rubble.
The spokesperson said the Rescue-1122 team working in Turkiye is UN-certified in rescue and relief operations.
The total number of people killed in Turkey has surpassed 40,000, while the Syrian government and the UN say nearly 6,000 people have died there.
A large number of UN trucks carrying aid from Turkiye into northwest Syria has crossed the border since February 9.
Turkiye is caring for 1,589 children who have been separated from their families following the earthquake.