Bangladesh team calls off search-and-rescue attempts in Turkey’s Adiyaman; leaves for Hatay

The Bangladeshi team ended its search and rescue operation in Turkey's quake-hit Adiyaman province Thursday.

The government sent a joint rescue team consisting of 46 members to conduct rescue operations and provide medical support in the quake-hit areas.

The Bangladesh team has so far wrested a 17-year-old girl from the rubble and recovered 23 bodies following last Monday's earthquake, Shahjahan Sikder, deputy assistant director of the fire service headquarters media cell, said Thursday.

The Bangladesh team consisting of 34 members from the army and 12 from the fire service left Dhaka Wednesday at 10pm and reached Turkey's Adana Military Air Base Thursday at 9:46pm. It will be redeployed to Hatay, one of the 10 provinces that were hit by the 7.8 magnitude quake and multiple aftershocks.

The rescue team left for Hatay, 380 kilometres away from Adiyaman, in the morning and will continue to play its part in the rescue effort in the province till February 19.

The number of people killed in the February 6 earthquakes that devastated parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria continues to rise. As chances of finding more survivors dwindled, some foreign search teams that rushed in to help started leaving.

On Thursday, Turkey's disaster management agency, AFAD, revised the country's death toll to 36,187. That pushed the combined reported death toll for Turkey and Syria to 39,875.

More than 108,000 people were injured in Turkey in the quake, the deadliest such disaster since the country's founding 100 years ago, reported AP.

Source: United News of Bangladesh