NDRF rescues girls aged 6 and 8 buried under debris in Turkey
Feb 17, 2023
New Delhi [India], February 17 : After the devastating earthquake in Turkey, a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), involved in the relief and rescue operation, pulled out two girls, aged 6 and 8, safely from the debris.
Speaking to ANI, Atul Karwal, DG, NDRF said, "The most important task in the rescue operation after the earthquake in Turkey was retrieving the bodies of those who lost their lives in the debris and handing them over to their families."
"The NDRF retrieved about 85 bodies but the most important was rescuing a 6-year-old girl alive," he added.
Karwal further said, "The child was buried under the debris and her mother was lying dead on top of that child. The mother must have tried to save her child."
NDRF has sent three teams to Turkey for rescue operations, out of which two teams have returned and one team is likely to return tomorrow i.e. Saturday.
The DG informed that 152 members went to Turkey for rescue on behalf of NDRF, in which 5 women also went for rescue abroad for the first time.
Karwal said, "NDRF worked wholeheartedly in Turkey and saved lives. 10 big cities have suffered huge damage. 6,000 buildings have collapsed out of which NDRF handled 34 buildings."
Notably, India announced 'Operation Dost' shortly after a magnitude 7.8 quake-ravaged Turkey and sent a team from the Army to set up 60 Para Field Hospitals and the NDRF for search and rescue operations, including relief and humanitarian assistance to the 'Dost' (friendly) country.
Led by Deputy Commandant Deepak Talwar, the 47-member team of NDRF that returned on Friday morning included a five-member women crew comprising Sub-Inspector Shivani Agrawal, Sushama Yadav, Rakhi, Archana Singh and Priyanka Rai - who belonged to the force's 8th Battalion and were among the first batch of the 51-member team that was sent to Turkey on February 7.
The 47-member team was among 101 NDRF personnel who were dispatched to Turkey in two separate batches with a four-member dog squad - Julie, Romeo, Honey and Rambo - for undertaking search and rescue operations in the affected areas of Turkey which was devastated on February 6 by a massive earthquake and aftershocks.
