Taiwan’s search and rescue teams are hard at work in Turkey, where the number of deaths due to the recent earthquake has already surpassed 15,000. The rescuers are faced with very tough conditions, but are working round the clock to find survivors as fast as possible. To do so they are cooperating with local teams and coordinating missions, all in English.
With a light in hand, the rescue team members crawl out from a cavity. The team is attempting to pull out a person from the rubble. It’s a high-difficulty operation, as the victim was crushed under a large amount of debris.
The Taiwanese team communicates in English to coordinate efforts with local rescuers.
After much effort, the person is finally brought to the opening. They clear away some more debris from the collapsed building and pull the victim out on a stretcher carefully.
This footage of the Taiwan rescue team was captured in the Turkish city of Adiyaman at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. After five hours of hard work with a local medical team, the victim recovered her vital signs. Even in the dark of night, the rescuers continue with the grueling work. President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday night spoke with the team members via teleconference, to make sure they were being taken care of.
Taiwanese rescuer
We came in two batches. Altogether there are 130 people in the rescue team and five search-and rescue dogs. There’s doctors, nurses, and a vet. The size of the team and this operation is the biggest yet.
Tsai Ing-wen
President
After the 1999 Jiji earthquake, the first rescue team to come to offer help in Taiwan was Turkey’s. This time, we went over at the very first moment. I think it’s quite good that, more than 20 years ago, they came to our help, and this time we are going for their help. Please take care.
The Taiwan search and rescue team arrived before the team from the U.S., which was originally expected to lead operations. Because of this, the Taiwan team established an on-site operation coordination center of its own, marking the first time that an international humanitarian team of its kind was formed under the name of an unrecognized country. It was in charge of receiving rescue teams from other countries, dispatching them on missions, and reporting on different operations. Because of this, the team was acknowledged as an official part on the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination system set up by the United Nations.
