In Turkey, the death toll from Monday’s earthquakes rose to 3,381, while the number of injured rose to 20,426, the Turkish Disaster Management Agency (AFAD) said on Tuesday.
AFAD also reported that at least 5,775 buildings collapsed in the disaster, while they received reports of another 11,302 damaged buildings whose condition could not be assessed for the time being.
Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu said on Monday that some 13.5 million people live in the 10 provinces hit by the earthquakes in Turkey alone.
Péter Szijjártó: more Hungarian rescue teams are traveling to Turkey
The team of the National Directorate General of Disaster Management has already arrived in Turkey, and according to the plans, more Hungarian experts will soon travel to the earthquake-affected areas to help search for survivors, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Tuesday.
According to the ministry’s statement, the head of the ministry said in his latest briefing that on the instructions of Interior Minister Sándor Pintér, 55 rescuers and two rescue dogs from the Hunor team arrived on Monday night with two buses and four trucks in the most severely affected province of Hatay, where the work will begin in the morning.
He underlined: in addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the Pest County Search and Rescue Service, the Életjel Rescue Team, and the Baptist Charity Service, which will send 46 ambulances and 15 rescue dogs to Turkey later in the day with a total of HUF 40 million support from the government.
“So these three civil rescue services, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will hopefully reach Turkey today (…) After all, the first three, four, maybe five days give a chance to save survivors from the ruins,” he said.
Of course, Hungary will provide all possible assistance to Turkey in this extremely difficult period. The Turks can count on Hungary, he stated.
Péter Szijjártó said that they contacted the Hungarians staying in Turkey, seven of whom are currently in the area affected by the earthquake.
“Everyone is fine, we are in contact with everyone,” he said. “If anyone knows of a Hungarian citizen who may be affected, I ask that they inform the consular service or our embassy in Ankara,” he added.
He said that the handball team of Győr ETO arrived home with a transfer in Istanbul the day before. Ferencváros’ age group football team continues to have a training camp in the country, and we are in constant contact with them, and everyone is doing well.
The minister emphasized that in addition to Turkey, Syria was also affected by the earthquake, where supplies are even more difficult due to the civil war.
The government gave 50 million forints to the Maltese Charity Service to place two of its mobile clinical units in the area where the damage was the greatest, where the most injured people and people waiting for care were most affected.
“We will help where we can. And with those Christian communities, to whom we previously gave support for various campaigns, we naturally made contact,” he emphasized.
The Catholic Caritász is helping with a rescue team
On Tuesday, the Catholic Caritász sent a rescue team to Turkey, which was hit by the earthquake, with the cooperation of the volunteer firefighters of the Budapest Voluntary Rescue Association and the Budapest Fire Association.
According to the aid organization’s statement sent to MTI on Tuesday, the Hungarian volunteer team, led by team leader Gábor Gyurkó, set off in the early hours of the morning with 19 people, 5 vehicles and 2 trailers to the damage area, where they will join Turkish partner organizations. The team, capable of self-sufficiency for a week, can perform urban search and rescue, technical rescue, rope technical rescue, medical, canine research, and management tasks.
In order to provide longer-term assistance, the organization also contacted the international network and local organizations of Karitász, they added.
“Every hour and minute counts in an emergency situation like this, but our team was assembled in less than 20 hours, with the necessary tools, expertise, and trained volunteers to complete the rescue,” Gábor Écsy, national director of Katolikus Karitász, was quoted in the announcement.
Anyone who wants to join the rescue and assistance group for earthquake victims can help with HUF 500 by calling the donation line 1356 or by donating online at karitasz.hu, the announcement reads.
MTI
Our articles written on the subject:
Turkey declared seven days of national mourning after the earthquakes, more than 1,600 dead
Earthquakes in Turkey have killed at least 912 people – our article is constantly updated
