Vietnam Sends Search-and-Rescue Team to Turkey

Five officers and soldiers from the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department of Fire Fighting and Prevention will join a group of 20 Vietnamese emergency personnel to carry out earthquake rescue missions in Turkey.

Immediately after receiving the task, five police officers immediately went to Tan Son Nhat airport to go on duty. Source: VTV

On the afternoon of February 9, five Ho Chi Minh City police officers left for Hanoi to gather with a group of 20 people from the police force to go to Turkey to help in rescue efforts after a massive earthquake left thousands dead and missing.

These are five experienced officers from the Police Department of Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue under the HCM City Police Department.

After first gathering in Hanoi, the whole delegation will fly to Turkey to perform international missions, participate in rescue operations with the forces there.

According to VNA, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue has sent letters expressing his deepest sympathy to leaders of the Turkish and Syrian legislatures and people of the two countries over serious damage caused by the recent devastating earthquakes.

In his February 8 letters to Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Sentop, Speaker of the People's Council of Syria Hammouda Youssef Sabbagh, Hue expressed his belief that the Turkish and Syrian States and people would overcome this difficult and challenging period soon, and stabilise their socio-economic lives.

Rescuers and volunteers search for victims and survivors trapped in the rubble after a strong earthquake in the village of Besnia, near the town of Harim, Idlib province Syria, bordering Turkey. Photo: AFP

He affirmed that Vietnam is ready to join hands with the international community to help Syria and Turkey overcome consequences in its ability.

Earlier, Acting President Vo Thi Anh Xuan on February 6 also sent messages of sympathy to President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the President of Syria Bashar al-Assad.

Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Doan Khac Viet expressed deep condolences to the Governments and people of the two countries for the irreplaceable damage at the ministry’s regular press conference on February 9.

Concerning Vietnam's support for Turkey and Syria in earthquake disaster relief, Deputy Spokesperson Doan Khac Viet emphasized the sound relations between Vietnam and Turkey as well as Syria and affirmed that Vietnam is actively considering support.

The death toll from the disaster in the two countries surpassed 12,000 on February 9, Al Jazeera has reported. At least 14,000 people have died in Turkey, according to the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while at least 3,162 have been killed in Syria.

According to aid organizations and rescuers, the number of fatalities is expected to rise as many people are still buried beneath the wreckage.

The search for survivors of the terrible earthquake that shook Turkey and Syria on Monday continues. Foreign aid from multiple countries has started arriving in the region.

Rescuers are racing to pull survivors from earthquake rubble before they succumb to cold weather in southern Turkey and war-ravaged northern Syria.

As one of the world's most active earthquake zones, Turkey experienced several strong earthquakes in the past, including the one with a magnitude of 7.4 in 1999 which was the most severe in decades, resulting in over 17,000 fatalities. The most recent 7-magnitude earthquake occurred in October 2022 in Aegean, causing 114 deaths and over 1,000 injured.

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