82-member Chinese rescue team arrives in Turkey
The Chinese rescue team arrives at Adana Airport at 4:30am local time (1:30am GMT) on Wednesday.
After flying over 8,000 km on a chartered Air China plane, an 82-member Chinese rescue team arrived at Adana Airport on Wednesday to assist in rescue efforts in the quake-hit areas in Turkey.
According to Zhao Ming, head of the Chinese rescue team which arrived at 4:30am local time (1:30am GMT), based on the local conditions, the Chinese rescue team immediately started the unloading and transfer work, and coordinated with the Chinese Embassy in Turkey, the local government and relevant UN agencies as soon as possible.
The team took over specific search and rescue missions based on the current rescue progress, and plans to send a rescue team to survey the site of the mission and choose safe and suitable locations to set up camps.
"As a Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team certified by the United Nations, the Chinese rescue team is equipped with excellent personnel and resources, and can carry out search and rescue operations in two different work sites at the same time," said Wang Mo, deputy head of the Chinese rescue team. "Upon arrival, the team will bring audio and video life detectors, medical equipment and rescue dogs to the disaster area and immediately start the search and rescue work."
The latest death toll from the massive earthquakes in Turkey stood at 5,894 with 34,810 injuries, the country's Anadolu agency reported on Wednesday, citing Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay as saying.
The Chinese Embassy in Türkiye confirmed to Xinhua that no Chinese casualties have been reported so far.
According to Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake with a depth of 7 km struck Turkey's southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17am local time (1:17am GMT), which was strongly felt in the neighboring provinces of Gaziantep, Hatay and Malatya. There were numerous aftershocks in the vicinity.
