KAHRAMANMARAS, Türkiye
Responding to the natural emergency triggered by the earthquakes that hit Türkiye early on Monday, several Chinese search and rescue teams have joined other local and international groups to help save the trapped citizens.
One of the Chinese teams successfully rescued at least five Turkish citizens in southern Hatay province.
He Jun, head of the rescue team associated with an independent volunteer group – Ramunion – from China, told Anadolu that his team of 26 members, including 18 Chinese professionals, recovered eight people from under the debris on Thursday in Belen town of Hatay.
“Five of them were rescued alive,” He said over the phone, sounding happy.
“Turkish guys (I met) are nice people (and) Turkish language is very, very nice,” he added.
His team flew out of China on Tuesday, a day after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck southern Türkiye, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, then about nine hours later, a 7.6 magnitude quake rocked the same province again.
At least 18,342 people were killed and 74,242 others injured in the twin earthquakes that hit southern parts of Türkiye and were also felt in nearby countries, including Syria and Lebanon.
A total of 6,444 buildings collapsed due to the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude quakes in less than 10 hours.
Türkiye has declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces hit by the earthquakes.
China announced an aid of around $5.8 million and sent several teams of search and rescue professionals, most of whom were deployed to Hatay and Malatya provinces.
He’s Ramunion team arrived in southern Adana province early on Wednesday and were transported to Hatay province after coordinating with Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).
They carried along a specially trained sniffer dog.
“We may stay for one week here for post-quake operation and we have got eight sets of tools for search and rescue,” said He. The team has also brought medicine and food along.
Chinese workers volunteer for coordination, support, donate to help Türkiye
Around 300 Türkiye-based Chinese people working for different Chinese companies have joined hands for different tasks to facilitate search and rescue operations by Chinese professionals.
Speaking to Anadolu on his way to Adana province, Zhou, chairman of the Ankara-based Association of Chinese Enterprises in Türkiye, said the Chines volunteers are providing support in various aspects to international teams from China who have landed in Türkiye for post-quake operations.
“They help in Turkish-Chinese translation support to the professional teams from China besides coordinating their stay and rescue work,” said Zhou, who only shared his first name.
The Association of Chinese Enterprises comprises around 250 big and small Chinese companies operating in Türkiye.
Most of the Chinese companies are based in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir, said Zhou, who himself is engaged in various civil engineering and construction projects in Türkiye.
“The volunteers bought local food and clothes for the Chinese teams as it is too cold during the ongoing winter,” he added.
Zhou said the Chinese workers also made donations and bought food donated to the AFAD and Turk Kizilay (the Turkish Red Crescent) in Istanbul.
“Türkiye is our second home town… we are one family,” Zhou said.
He said the AFAD coordinates all registration and later dispatches the international teams to affected areas on needs-based assessment.
Around 300 personnel from China in Türkiye for post-quake operations
Official estimates suggest there is around 300 personnel, both government and independent, who have flown from China to Türkiye since Wednesday morning to help aid the post-earthquake operations.
“Of 300 personnel, two teams sent by the government have 141 members.
“They brought around 25 tons of search tools and supplies, including medical,” a Chinese diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
The diplomat added among the Chinese search and rescue teams are those sent from Hong Kong who carries around eight tons of supplies and tools.
There are four special sniffer dogs from Beijing.
Blue Sky, another independent Chinese group, “recovered many bodies in Malatya… unfortunately, none was alive.”
The official said the first two batches of supplies donated by China are expected to arrive in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul over the weekend.
“The first batch will include 40,000 blankets and the second batch will carry tents,” said the official.
The Chinese official said many people and companies in China sought their help to donate to help Türkiye.
“They have been guided to contact Turkish diplomatic missions in China,” said the official.
Türkiye’s Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa provinces were heavily hit by the quakes.
The earthquakes were also felt in several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon.
More than 120,344 search and rescue personnel are currently working in the field, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).
A total of 30,360 people were evacuated from quake-hit regions, AFAD said.
It added 1,059 aftershocks followed the quakes.
