Romanian rescuers pull four people from the rubble in Turkey

The Romanian teams of rescuers operating in Turkey have so far saved four people from the rubble. On Wednesday, February 8, a 4.2 earthquake occurred as rescuers were working to save a teenager. The operation lasted 20 hours, but the young man was pulled to safety.

"Yesterday morning, Romanian rescuers identified a conscious person, a 16-year-old teenager trapped under the rubble in the intervention area indicated by the Turkish authorities. Several hours into the intervention, a 4.2 magnitude aftershock was registered at the site, which led to changes in the debris, making it more difficult to rescue the teenager. An excavator was requested to support the upper part of the construction, and the mixed support team continued the rescue mission by creating a tunnel to access the victim. With sustained efforts and over 20 hours of continuous work, the Romanian team was able to rescue the young man trapped under the rubble, who was conscious and cooperative. He was then handed over to the medical crew," a report from the General Inspectorate of Emergency Situations (IGSU) says.

So far, the Romanian mixed team has managed to rescue four people who were victims of the multiple earthquakes in Turkey. The Romanian team has now been moved to a new P + 8 building which has completely collapsed, in order to search for survivors and support Turkish teams, according to official sources cited by HotNews.

“Two support teams from Romania, consisting of specialized RO-USAR search-and-rescue personnel, doctors and SMURD assistants, and personnel with canine teams from the Utility Dogs Club, the Transylvania Rescue Dogs, the Gugulania Rescue Dogs, are present at this moment in Turkey. They are in constant communication with the Turkish authorities, the AFAD representatives being directly responsible for designating the action and intervention area of the international teams coming to support them,” the IGSU source says.

Romania also repatriated 10 more of its citizens, including two children, from Turkey. They boarded special flights at the airports in Adana and Malatya. In total, 31 Romanians and two Polish citizens have been repatriated with Romanian Ministry of Defense aircraft since the earthquake.

(Photo source: Facebook/IGSU)