In a joint rescue operation with the rescue teams SARAID (UK), SARUV (AT) and AKDF (TR), the Light USAR team of @fire (DE) was able to save another human life in Kahramanmaraş on Friday evening. A 15-year-old girl was located under the rubble of a collapsed house this afternoon. With combined forces, the rescue operation began. The helpers dug a tunnel into the mountain of rubble. In the evening hours the relieving news: The girl could be saved alive. More than 110 hours after the earthquake, this borders on a miracle.
Throughout the day, @fire’s 40-member search and rescue team was out in the heavily damaged city, checking several collapsed homes for possible survivors. In the morning, one of the rescue dogs had struck a pile of rubble. Technical locating equipment and additional rescue dogs were then deployed. However, the assumption that there was a survivor was not confirmed.
With each passing hour, the likelihood of rescuing people alive from the rubble dwindles. Nevertheless, @fire’s search and rescue team continues tirelessly to search for buried victims. Rescue dogs and technical equipment are used non-stop to search for survivors in the numerous collapsed buildings.
Meanwhile, a small @fire team independently runs the Reception/Departure Center (RDC) at Adana Airport. The three @fire staff members have their hands full there, registering and coordinating the arrival and departure of the now more than 120 international teams. The RDC is a central component in the coordination of international aid under the umbrella of the United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG).The Sector Coordination Cell (SCC) in Kahramanmaraş was also able to be supported by the @fire forces with IT equipment and supplied with an Internet connection via satellite. The SCC coordinates local search and rescue operations in the provincial capital of 665,000 inhabitants in the southern part of Anatolia.
@fire - Internationaler Katastrophenschutz Deutschland e. V. is a non-profit civil protection organization that has been providing rapid emergency aid worldwide following devastating natural disasters since 2002. Responders are specially trained in wildland firefighting (WFF) and search and rescue of buried victims after earthquakes (USAR). All of the more than 400 members are involved in national and international disaster relief on a voluntary and unpaid basis. The civil protection organization was classified as the world’s first Light USAR Team by the United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) in 2021 and operates according to international standards. Funding for operations, training, and equipment is primarily donor-funded.
Donation account 40 50 60
Bank für Sozialwirtschaft, bank code 370 205 00
IBAN: DE17 3702 0500 000113 8800 / BIC: BFSWDE33XXX