The Turkish Armed Forces have set up an air corridor on Monday to allow the transfer of aid and rescue teams to the areas affected by the earthquake of magnitude 7.4 on the open Richter scale registered during the early hours of the morning in the province of Kahramanmaras, which has left more than 650 dead in Turkey and Syria.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar stressed that the authorities have mobilized to try to contain the damage and care for the victims, including the search and rescue of victims still trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings, before indicating that «the crisis center is working intensively».
«Our contacts with relevant ministries and institutions continue. Rescue teams are needed in the areas affected by the earthquake,» said Akar, who stressed that the Air Relief Brigade has been deployed to the region «to contribute to search and rescue activities,» according to a statement released by the Turkish Ministry of Defense.
«We have mobilized our aircraft to send medical and search and rescue teams, as well as vehicles, to the earthquake zone,» said the minister, who stressed that the work is hampered by bad weather conditions and damage to some airports in the affected area. «We maintain our efforts to send personnel and materials to the area as soon as possible,» he stressed.
Akar has also confirmed that three of those killed in Turkey are military personnel and has indicated that «there are reports of personnel who cannot be contacted.» «The most important thing we have to try to achieve is to locate our personnel in the rubble,» said the minister, who stressed that there is coordination with the governors of the ten affected provinces to «respond to the demands.»
So far more than 280 dead and 2,300 wounded have been confirmed in Turkey, as well as about 240 dead and 640 wounded in areas of Syria controlled by the authorities. To these figures must be added about 150 dead and more than 340 wounded in rebel-held areas in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, in the northwest of the Arab country, as indicated by the Syrian Civil Defense, known as ‘white helmets’.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
