Dubai, UAE–An Emirati rescue team has pulled two people from under the rubble in Turkey, 120 hours after two devastating earthquakes killed over 23,000 people.
The man, believed to be in his 50s or 60s, and an 11-year-old child were rescued in Kahramanmaras province, close to the earthquake’s epicenter, reported Emirates News Agency (WAM).
They received the necessary healthcare, and are currently in good health, said WAM.
Search and rescue teams, deployed from all over the world, have been racing against time to find survivors amid freezing winter temperatures, five days after the devastating earthquakes.
As part of its ‘Gallant Knight/2’ operation, the UAE has dispatched 134 rescuers to help in the search for survivors in quake-hit Turkey and Syria.
Also read: UN relief chief fears Turkey-Syria quake deaths to top 50,000
The Emirati rescue team earlier saved a Syrian family of four in Kahramanmaras and retrieved nine bodies from under the rubble, according to WAM.
The Gulf state was also among the first to pledge $100 million aid, sending 27 aid planes that carried food, medical supplies, and shelter for those impacted by the earthquake.
Work is underway to prepare a mobile field hospital in the town of Islahiye in Turkiye to aid the injured.
“The cataclysmic aftermath of the earthquake necessitated a serious stance to come to the aid of the Syrian and Turkish people, obligating us to match our response with the size of the disaster,” said the Joint Operations Command in a WAM statement.