Malta to send another search and rescue team to Turkey as death toll surpasses 23,000

Malta is sending a second team of rescuers to Turkey to help in search operations for earthquake victims, Byron Camilleri said.

The Home Affairs Minister said Malta will be sending another team of 32 rescuers from the Civil Protection Department along with eight volunteers to replace the team currently in Turkey.

More than 23,000 people are known to have died in southern Turkey and northern Syria after two massive earthquakes measuring 7.8 and 7.5 struck the region last Monday. The earthquakes flattened whole neighbourhoods.

Malta immediately deployed a team of 32 CPD officials and a dog to Turkey as part of the EU’s response to calls for assistance.

The tour of duty of the first Maltese team will come to an end in the coming days. They were deployed in the Turkish city of Malatya where they assisted on various sites.

One of the search operations took place among the mounds of rubble from a residential tower block that collapsed. A similar tower block metres away did not collapse but sustained serious structural damage.

The residential tower block in the background sustained structural damage but a similar tower in the foreground was reduced to a pile of rubble by the earthquakes (Photo: CPD)

The Maltese rescuers have been working day and night, but are yet to find a survivor.

Despite several stories of survivors being found alive after being buried beneath the rubble for days, the hope of finding people alive diminishes with every passing day. Rescue operations are hampered by the very cold weather gripping the region.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government has accepted to allow international aid to cross into rebel-held areas which were the hardest hit by the earthquakes.

International assistance has been slow to reach Syrian cities and towns because of the complicated political and security situation on the ground. The devastation caused by the earthquakes has simply exacerbated the situation for people who have had to endure years of civil war.