Thailand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team will return home on Feb 18 after the mission in earthquake-hit Türkiye, said deputy interior minister Narit Khamnurak.
The team of 42 rescue workers and medics is carrying out search and rescue operations. Two well-trained sniffer dogs have searched for the victims trapped in the ruins of collapsed buildings but found no survivors.
The deputy interior minister said the mission would be used as a lesson to develop Thai USAR teams in the future.
Thailand encountered disasters such as quakes and forest fires. Yesterday, a minor quake shook parts of Phang-nga province, which caused some residents to panic.
He hoped that the parliament will allocate the 2024 budget to support the operations of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.
It is important to increase capabilities of rescuers for missions in the country and abroad, he said.
The impacts of the quake also brought a lesson for Thailand on engineering standard for construction of buildings, which can withstand earthquakes, he added.
A 7.8- magnitude quake hit Türkiye and Syria on Feb 6. The pre-dawn quake was centered in southeastern Kahramanmaras province, followed by several aftershocks. The death toll rose to over 35,000. One Thai woman was found dead under the rubble of a building in Iskenderun. (TNA)
