VPA’s rescue team sent to Turkey completes mission

By the command from the heart, the rescue team of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA), sent to Hatay province – one of the Turkish locality most affected by the February 6 earthquake, has successfully completed its mission, Maj. Gen. Pham Van Ty has said.

Maj. Gen. Pham Van Ty (Photo: VNA)

Hatay (VNA) - By the command from the heart, the rescue team of theVietnam People's Army (VPA), sent to Hatay province – one of the Turkishlocalities most affected by the February 6 earthquake, has successfully completedits mission, Maj. Gen. Pham Van Ty has said.

The head of the team, who is Deputy Chief of the Office ofthe National Committee for Incident and Disaster Response, Search and Rescueand Deputy Director of the VPA's Department of Search and Rescue, said that thisis the first time the Ministry of National Defence and the VPA have sent personnel and equipment aboard to participate in humanitarian assistance andrespond to the earthquake disaster.

However, team members all underwent training and drills andhandled some cases on a small scale at home, so they have effectively appliedtheir experience in carrying out rescue work in Turkey, stated Ty.

The team’s use of sniffer dogs, visual and audio observationradar and a wall-penetrating radar system has produced good results, he said,adding that local and international rescue teams and host people have also appreciatedthe effective command, and implementation of tasks of the Vietnamese team.

Vietnam will apply experience drawn from this search and rescue operation to training and exercises in the country to improve thecommand and administration organisation of commanders and improve the capacityof rescuers, he added./.

VNA