Ghaziabad: A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel along with a specially trained dog squad and necessary equipment has departed from Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad to carry out search and rescue operations in Turkey. India has sent the NDRF team to Turkey after earthquakes jolted Turkey and Syria on Monday.
Speaking to ANI, Deepak Talwar, Deputy Commandant, NDRF, who is leading the first NDRF team from India to Turkey, said, “This team is consisting of 47 NDRF personnel and three senior officers to perform recovery and response work as per the United Nations guidelines.”
He further said, “We have received the orders for two teams. First team is about to move very soon and second team will be leaving in the morning. We’re going for disaster response & after that, humanitarian aid will be provided as per Government of India guidelines.”
Speaking to ANI, Talwar said, “The team is going as per the composition prescribed by NDRF and accordingly, we are moving. Medical components are also there. Paramedic staff is also there.”
Mohsen Shahedi, DIG, Operation and Training NDRF said, “As you know, a massive earthquake took place in Turkey and Syria. The Government of India as a measure of HADR (Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief) operations, has taken a decision to send two teams of NDRF to Turkey.”
He further said, “The teams are sent to help in conducting the rescue and relief operations. About 101 NDRF personnel from two teams, one of the team Eight battalion of NDRF from Ghaziabad and the other from second battalion of NDRF from Kolkata will be going for this mission.”
Meanwhile, Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said, “India’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) capabilities in action. The first batch of earthquake relief material leaves for Turkiye, along with NDRF Search and Rescue Teams, specially trained dog squads, medical supplies, drilling machines and other necessary equipment.”
The prime minister’s office (PMO) in a statement on Monday said that a meeting was held and it was decided that the search and rescue teams of NDRF and medical teams along with relief materials would be dispatched immediately in coordination with the Turkish government.
“Medical teams are also being readied with trained doctors and paramedics with essential medicines. Relief material will be dispatched in coordination with the Turkish government and the Indian Embassy in Ankara and Consulate General office in Istanbul,” the PMO said. P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister held a meeting in South Block to discuss immediate relief measures.
On Monday, an earthquake of magnitude 7.7 centred in the Pazarcik district jolted Kahramanmaras and hit several provinces, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis, as per the Anadolu Agency report.
Later in the day, an earthquake of 7.6 magnitudes centred in Kahramanmaras’s Elbistan district jolted the region. The earthquake was also felt in several neighbouring countries, including Lebanon and Syria.
The third earthquake of magnitude 6.0 on the Richter scale hit Goksun, Turkey on Monday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.