Fifteen rescuers from the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan, who returned to Kazakhstan after 12 consecutive days of rescue operations in the Turkish city of Nurdag, recently shared their stories with journalists.
It is reported that the 15 rescuers from Karaganda flew by plane to the Turkish province of Gaziantep on February 8 as the second batch of personnel of the earthquake rescue team of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Upon arrival, they were deployed in the earthquake-devastated city of Nurdag.
During the rescue operation, the team raced against time to rescue survivors from the rubble, and the accompanying doctors also set up medical points in the local area to provide medical assistance to the injured.
According to rescuers, they carried out rescue operations in a collapsed 6-story building. As rescuers removed part of the building debris and searched underground, a woman's cry for help was heard.
Ruslan Soiko, commander of the second echelon of the rescue team, said that after identifying the source of the sound, they successfully found two female survivors from the basement area of the building, and with the assistance of interpreters, rescuers communicated with the two survivors and learned about their condition.
"They used to live on the second floor, but when the earthquake struck, they ended up in the basement as the building collapsed. Fortunately, a small space was formed there that allowed them to survive. When they saw us, they were excited and asked for water. He said.
It is reported that the two women found by the rescue team, a mother and daughter, have been under the rubble for 93 hours.
Shortly thereafter, rescuers found another survivor in the building, a 60-year-old man.
"When we managed to rescue those two women, we found another person. Duman heard heavy breathing near the basement. Finally, we found a man in his 60s in his 60s at the door of the basement, his arms and legs clamped. He turned out to be deaf and mute. We pulled him out and handed him over to the medical staff. Sergei Talenin, a member of the rescue team, said.
But the story doesn't end there. On the last day of the rescue operation, a local resident approached the Kazakh rescue team and told them that he was looking for his brother.
When the team asked him for information, the resident showed a photo of his brother, the deaf old man rescued by the rescue team.
"I recognized the man we saved, and it made me believe in miracles." Tareinen said.
In the midst of the grief caused by the tens of thousands of deaths caused by the devastating earthquake, the brothers' reunion remains a comforting joy.
Rescuers told reporters that the most unbearable part of the earthquake rescue was the discovery and recovery of the remains of those killed from the rubble.
"The hardest part is informing people waiting of the death of their loved ones. It's hard to tell a mother that her son has died under the rubble, and it's just as heartbreaking to see children mourning the loss of their loved ones. Alemaguri Ardabekova, a doctor accompanying the Kazakhstan earthquake rescue team, said.
Members of the Kazakhstan earthquake rescue team worked day and night to try to rescue survivors from the rubble, and also excavated many daily necessities of local residents.
"During the cleaning and survey, we found all sorts of things, including safes and valuables, and immediately handed them over to local colleagues. There was an interesting case where we found a cage with a parrot under the rubble. The cage was pressed a little deformed, but the bird was not injured. Their owners immediately took them away. Rescuers said.
Immediately after the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, Kazakhstan sent a rescue team of 101 people in two groups to the disaster area on February 7 and 8. In addition, hundreds of tons of relief supplies were delivered to two countries by transport aircraft.
The rescue team returned to Kazakhstan on 18 and 19 February.
In recognition of his heroic performance in the rescue operations after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, President Tokayev awarded the national medal to the members of the Kazakh rescue team on the 24th.
Source: Harbin News Agency
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