2 IAF C17s Packed With Aid Sent, Army's Medical Team On Way: India Rushes Help to Quake-hit Turkey

An Indian Air Force (IAF) C17 Globemaster reached quake-hit Turkey on Tuesday with rescue teams, relief material, specially trained dogs, and other aid, while a second plane was on the way to the country in crisis after a massive earthquake of 7.8 magnitude and multiple major aftershocks left thousands dead and towns in ruins.

Taking to Twitter, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed that two C-17 Globemaster IAF aircraft had departed India.

While the first IAF aircraft reached Turkey on Tuesday morning (as per IST), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi later informed that a second IAF C17 with self-contained NDRF teams including dog squads, search and  rescue equipment, extrication tools and vehicles has left for Turkey.

“India continues to support the people of Türkiye in their hour of need,” Bagchi said in the tweet.

Meanwhile, the Indian Army has mobilised a Field Hospital to provide medical support to the affected people in the region. Agra-based Army Field Hospital has dispatched a 99-member medical team. The medical team comprises critical care specialist teams to include Orthopedic surgical team, general surgical specialist team, medical specialist teams apart from other medical teams.

The teams are equipped with X-ray machines, ventilators, Oxygen generation plant, Cardiac monitors and associated equipment to establish a 30-bedded medical facility.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks on Monday killed more than 5,000 people and flattened thousands of buildings in Turkey and neighbouring Syria. It was centred in Turkey’s southeastern province of Kahramanmaras and was felt as far away as Cairo.

Turkish embassy in a tweet thanking India for the aid, said “First batch of earthquake relief material along with NDRF’s special search & rescue teams and trained dog squats just arrived in Türkiye”. Thank you India for your support and solidarity, the tweet read.

Orange dungaree-clad NDRF personnel of the federal contingency force are accompanied by two search dogs, four-wheeled vehicles and communication setup, the officials said.

NDRF has been a part of two such international operations in the past also — the 2011 Japan triple disaster (earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown) and the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

The government on Monday decided to rush NDRF teams along with medical aid and relief material to Turkey following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s instructions to offer all possible assistance to the country.

Earthquake in Syria

Search teams and international aid also poured into Syria as rescuers working in freezing temperatures and sometimes using their bare hands dug through the remains of buildings flattened by a powerful earthquake.

But with the damage spread over a wide area, the massive relief operation often struggled to reach devastated towns, and voices that had been crying out from the rubble fell silent.

Another IAF flight carrying six tons of emergency relief assistance has taken off for Syria, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. He tweeted, “Consignment consists of life-saving medicines and emergency medical items. Indian stands in solidarity with those most affected by this tragedy.”

The death toll in government-held areas of Syria climbed over 800, with some 1,400 injured, according to the country’s Health Ministry. At least 900 people have died in the rebel-held northwest, according to the White Helmets, the emergency organisation leading rescue operations, with more than 2,300 injured.

(with PTI and Associated Press inputs)

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