Support beyond boundaries

Author: Agencies

General Sahir Shamshad Mirza Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), Services Chiefs and Armed Forces of Pakistan Tuesday offered their deepest empathy and condolences to the earthquake victims of Turkiye, according to a statement issued by the ISPR. On the instructions of General Syed Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Pak Army has dispatched two contingents – Urban Search & Rescue Team – comprising rescue experts, sniffer dogs, search equipment and a medical team comprising army doctors, nursing staff and technicians along with 30 bedded mobile hospital, tentage, blankets and other relief items.

The aid contingents were dispatched to Adana, Turkiye, via special PAF aircraft to undertake relief efforts for Turkish people while working in close coordination with the Turkish government, armed forces and their embassy in Islamabad.

The contingents will stay there till the completion of relief and rescue operations. “People and armed forces of Pakistan stand with our Turk brethren and offer all available support in this hour of need,” the ISPR added.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces devastated by two earthquakes that killed more than 5,200 people and left a trail of destruction across a wide area of southern Turkey and neighbouring Syria.

A day after the quakes hit, rescuers working in harsh conditions struggled to dig people out of the rubble of collapsed buildings. As the scale of the disaster became ever more apparent, the death toll looked likely to rise considerably. One United Nations official said it was feared thousands of children may have been killed.

And residents in several damaged Turkish cities voiced anger and despair at what they said was a slow and inadequate response from the authorities to the deadliest earthquake to hit Turkey since 1999.

Tens of thousands of people were injured or left homeless in cities in Turkey and northern Syria.

Winter weather has hampered rescue and relief efforts and made the plight of the homeless even more miserable. Some areas were without fuel and electricity.

Aid officials voiced particular concern about the situation in Syria, already afflicted by a humanitarian crisis after nearly 12 years of civil war.

Erdogan on Tuesday declared the 10 Turkish provinces affected as a disaster zone and imposed a state of emergency there for three months. This will permit the government to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms.

The government will open up hotels in the tourism hub of Antalya to temporarily house people impacted by the quakes, said Erdogan, who faces a national election in three months’ time.