The teams, comprising engineers, sniffer dogs, and military doctors, searched eight points in Hatay’s capital city of Antakya where they located three points with victims buried under debris.

Two points with dead victims were found by Team No.1, and was handed over to the local heavy-duty rescue force.

Meanwhile, Team No.2 coordinated with their peers from Bahrain to reach the deepest and toughest area in the locality, where they discovered signs of human in the rubble of a household.

The 76-strong rescue teams of the VPA, along with 35 tonnes of cargo, departed for Turkey on February 12 night to assist the country in recovery efforts following the devastating earthquakes.

According to the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, more than 6,400 buildings in the country collapsed after the two earthquakes and more than 430 aftershocks. Some 8,300 international personnel have joined search and rescue operations in the country.

Embassies continue support for rescue efforts in Turkey, Syria

The Vietnamese Embassy in Turkey and the embassy in Iran and Syria have delivered letters of sympathies from Vietnam to local administrations over the losses in the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

Also on February 13 and 14, they informed local administrations about the Vietnamese Government’s decision to give 100,000 USD in aid to each country.

Besides, the embassy in Turkey escorted the rescue team from the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence to the site in distress and handed over the relief to the deputy governor of Hatay province.

It coordinated with local authorities to help the Vietnamese teams settle down and ensure security for them.

The administrations of southeastern provinces of Turkey thanked and highly valued the capacity of the Vietnamese teams, the embassy noted.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Embassy in Iran and Syria, together with the Vietnamese community in Iran, raised donations to earthquake victims in Syria and presented the assistance to the Syrian Embassy in Iran.

On the coming days, under the Foreign Ministry’s directions, the two embassies will maintain a close watch of the situation while actively working with local authorities and the Vietnamese teams to give the best support for research and rescue efforts, they added.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency, Vietnamese Ambassador to Turkey Do Son Hai said this is the first time Vietnam has sent rescue teams to such farway places, and their efforts have been highly valued by people and authorities of Adiyaman city, where the team from the Ministry of Public Security are working, and Hatay province, where the team from the Defence Ministry are performing search and rescue duties.

He expressed his hope that the teams will show Turkey and intenational friends the rescue capacity of Vietnam, adding other countries have highly valued not only the capacity but also the industriousness of the Vietnamese teams.

The embassy will do its utmost to assist the teams, Hai noted, adding that the coordination with other international teams will also give considerable lessons to the search and rescue officers of Vietnam.

As of February 15, the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6 has killed over 41,000 people. VNA