Philippine rescue contingent arrives in Istanbul
The Philippine rescue mission contingent deployed to the Republic of Turkiye following the destructive magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Monday arrived in Istanbul on Thursday morning.
Diego Agustin Mariano, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) information officer, said Turkish Airline flight TK85 carrying the 82-man team composed of the members of military, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Department of Health (DOH), OCD and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) landed in Istanbul airport around 12 noon.
Mariano said only 82 teams were able to leave the country on Wednesday night as three do not have enough travel documents.
A Filipino was recovered after an earthquake struck Turkey last week, the head of a Filipino community said Thursday.
In an interview with dzBB, Pinoy in Ankara community president Cherilyn Santos said that a Filipino who was previously said to be dead was now recovered alive and safe.
“Yesterday, a Filipino who was confirmed dead by their employer two days ago was recovered. That person was recovered just yesterday afternoon. So far, that person is safe,” Santos said.
Santos said that four Filipinos were still missing and were all living in the same building.
Col. Xerxes Trinidad, Army Public Affairs chief, said the deployment came after the Turkish government appealed for help from the international community following the 7.8-magnitude quake.
"The team will be deployed to Turkiye for at least two weeks. They will also bring essential items that will be distributed to quake victims in their host country," he said.
Trinidad said the Philippine team includes a 21-man urban search and rescue (USAR) team from the 525th Engineer Combat Battalion of the 51st Engineer Brigade of the Philippine Army. Robina Asido-Jaspearl Tan/DMS
