Disaster in Turkey: How Vietnam's Elite Rescue Team Helped a Suffering Nation

Colonel Nguyen Minh Khuong, how did you and your team feel when you first received the command to support the rescue, and earthquake recovery in Turkey?

At first, the members of the delegation and I were nervous but also very proud to be representing the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam to Turkey to do the rescue missions. This was the first time that the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam has sent forces abroad for international missions, so the members of the delegation showed the highest determination to do the assigned tasks well.

It was the first time, so we have no real experience, we also anticipated the difficulties, and we prepared quite well, from logistics as well as means of operation. This preparation helps us to be quite proactive.

What was your delegation's experience during your time in Turkey like?

What left a strong impression for me and the members was that thousands of houses and buildings completely collapsed, and people standing on the street looking at the ruined area, where their loved ones were trapped, they just hope the authorities find their loved ones soon.

Under the cold of minus 7 degrees Celsius, each group of people sat around a small fire and waited. When we arrived, many people hugged us and burst into tears. I will probably never forget that moment for the rest of my life.

For the 10 days we were there, our team do search and rescue work at 03 locations. We found 17-year-old victim who was found alive, then worked with the international forces to rescue that person from the rubble and removed 14 victims' bodies from the collapsed area assigned by local authorities.

I remember the day February 11, the first day we arrived in Turkey. At about 7 a.m., when we reached the locations, we discovered that in the rubble of a high-rise building on Street 531, Adıyaman Merkez, Adıyaman, there were more than 10 people who were buried. We have used up all the specialized equipment we brought and the support of Turkish motor vehicles liek excavators, etc. By around 6:30 p.m. on the same day, we had basically cleaned up the site, eliminated the dangerous factors to avoid secondary collapse. Then, the team used the camera to detect the signs of life with two different sounds in the collapsed area.

We spotted the closest location to approach the victim and continued to go deeper (following a very narrow path that can only fit one person), the deeper we go, the more we could hear the sound coming out. We communicated by asking questions "Hello, How are you?..." then noticed that there was a response from the victim.

At that time, our delegation worked with the Turkish coordination agency to mobilize more forces and equipment to quickly saving the victim's life. We also worked with the rescue team of Pakistan, recommending the group to approach in all directions. The Pakistani team approached the back of the building while our team approached the building from the front. At about 10 p.m. on the same day, the 17-year-old victim was taken out of the rubble.

When the victim was rescured, the emotions of their family members, relatives and international forces participated in the rescue at the scene were all burst out.

Many families, people and a number of organizations in Turkey have come to the place where we stationed to express their sincere gratitude to the Vietnamese force.

A resident in Antakya city said to us "Thank you very much, thank you for accompanying us, as well as sharing with us through this difficult time. Thank you a thousand times."

Talking to VNT Reporter, Colonel Nguyen Minh Khuong, Deputy Head of the Police Department of Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue shared his experiences leading the Delegation of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam participating in the rescue, earthquake recovery in Turkey earlier this year

What suggestions do you have for the people-to-people diplomacy between Vietnam and Turkey after this misson?

When we arrived in Turkey, the most difficult problem was the language barrier, in the group there were only two comrades who could communicate in English to talk to a volunteer. Therefore, the mission initially encountered certain obstacles. From my experiences, I suggest that the two countries need to organize more cultural and historical exchange activities to create a closer relationship between people, which is a premise to support each other. In addition, it is necessary to promote contact with Vietnamese people living in Turkey because they understand the culture and language of the host country, so that the foreign relations between the two sides will develop more strongly and will provide the best solutions in all situations.

Also, for international missions in general and rescue missions in particular, it is necessary to contact the Embassy of the host country about getting help from Vietnamese people living ithere because they have culture and language understanding and can speed up the work and come up with the best solutions for all situations.

It is also necessary to further promote the exchange of experiences between the two countries in many fields, including the field of fire prevention and fighting and rescue.

Here are some pictures of the Delegation of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam participating in the rescue, earthquake recovery in Turkey earlier this year.

Photo courtesy by Nguyen Minh Khuong

Photo courtesy by Nguyen Minh Khuong

Photo courtesy by Nguyen Minh Khuong

Photo courtesy by Nguyen Minh Khuong

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