Saudi Arabia’s search and rescue team completes operations in quake-hit Turkey
The Saudi team – part of the Kingdom’s Civil Defense team – launched round-the-clock missions in 47 different sites across three Turkish cities to locate survivors who may be trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.
The search team conducted its operations in the Turkish cities of Gaziantep, Antakya, and Kahramanmaras. At the start of their mission, the Saudi team first met with the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), local authorities, and the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) to determine the regions where they would be conducting their search and rescue operations and providing medical and humanitarian aid.
The team arrived in Riyadh on Thursday after completing their mission.
More than 47,000 people were killed when the 7.8-magnitude quake hit Turkey and Syria, while hundreds of thousands have been left injured and homeless.
Volunteer teams from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) continue to work on the ground in Syria and Turkey, helping earthquake victims and monitoring relief programs and projects.
The Kingdom’s rescue and relief missions come under the directives of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.