Turkiye-Syria Quake: 'No Information Yet About Any Indian Trapped', Says Envoy
According to India's embassy in Turkiye, there is no information yet on any Indians stranded in Turkiye's earthquake, which killed over 24,000 people.
Virander Paul, India's ambassador to Turkiye, said on Saturday that there is no information yet regarding any Indians stranded in Turkiye's earthquake, news agency ANI reported.
"There are 3000 Indian people in Turkiye. Not many are in earthquake-affected areas, many have moved out. We are in touch with them. We have no information just yet about any Indian trapped," the ambassador was quoted as saying by ANI.
"A field hospital has been set up by the Indian Army in Hatay province. TwoC-17 aircraft brought medical team required to set up the hospital with 30beds," Paul said, as stated in the ANI report.
According to the ambassador, Turkiye's situation is quite fluid. India, on the other hand, remains attentive to the needs of the impacted people, the report said.
"Situation is very dynamic, every day we come across new requirements. As far as India is concerned, we remain responsive towards the needs of people here," Paul stated, as per the report.
On Friday, India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) worked with the Turkish Army to rescue an 8-year-old child from earthquake-ravaged Turkey.
The girl was discovered alive beneath the rubble of a building destroyed by a big earthquake in Nurdagi, Gaziantep, Turkiye.
"Hard work and motivation pay; NDRF crew successfully rescued another live victim (Girl aged 8Yrs) @1545hrs atLoc: Bahceli Evler Mahallesi, Nurdagi, Gaziantep, Turkiye," the NDRF said in a tweet.
#OperationDost
— NDRF 🇮🇳 (@NDRFHQ) February 10, 2023
Hard work & motivation pays;
NDRF team in co-ordination with Turkish Army successfully rescued another live victim (Girl aged 8Yrs) @ 1545hrs at Loc:Bahceli Evler Mahallesi, Nurdagi, Gaziantep, Turkiye@PMOIndia @HMOIndia @MEAIndia @BhallaAjay26 @PIB_India pic.twitter.com/wU8mePmewW
The NDRF tweeted a photo of the ongoing rescue operations in Turkiye.
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported on Saturday that rescuers pulled children from the rubble of the Turkiye-Syria earthquake on Friday (local time), as the death toll surpassed 20,000.
Four days after the quake, the verified death toll from the region's biggest earthquake in two decades stands at more than 24,000 spanning southern Turkiye and northwest Syria.
The stink of death remained over Turkiye's eastern city of Kahramanmaras, the epicentre of the first 7.8-magnitude tremor that upended millions of lives early Monday. According to France24, it is located in a remote location populated by individuals who have previously been uprooted by war.
(With Inputs From Agencies)