"The K9 dogs, which are affiliated with the Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), are carrying out a search for earthquake victims in the Hatay city area," the head of the 2023 Turkish Humanitarian Mission Police Task Force, Brigadier General Gatot Tri Suryanta, informed in a written statement received here on Tuesday.
The K9 dogs, along with the EMT team consisting of a joint team from the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), Basarnas, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), and other volunteers, landed at Adana Airport, Turkey, on February 13, 2023.
Upon their arrival, the EMT team planned to stay three days at the disaster site in Adana to establish a field hospital.
"At Adana, our team has been divided into four groups according to their respective agencies. There are also those who joined other agencies according to the available places," Suryanta informed.
The Indonesian (Search and Rescue) SAR team has coordinated with the Turkish Disaster Management Agency Authority (AFAD) on earthquake and emergency mitigation.
He said that AFAD has determined the placement point for the Indonesian SAR team personnel and four National Police (Polri) personnel, along with two K9s who have been moved to the earthquake search location.
According to Suryanta, on the first day of the search, the SAR team did not find any victims because the difficult location and thick building material prevented the dogs from detecting victims in the rubble. The search was temporarily stopped at night.
"The results of the search did not find victims buried," he said.
Polri has deployed 22 personnel in the EMT team for the second phase of the humanitarian mission. In Phase I, the National Police sent four personnel from the K9 team, namely Adjunct Commissioner Mohammad Amali, Chief Brigadier Stefanus Anton Mulyono, Chief Brigadier Triyono Arbianto, First Brigadier and Briptu I Ketut Mertayasa.
The four personnel are the handlers of the two K9 dogs, named Lupita (8) and Gizi (3).
"These four personnel joined as the BNPB team, which departed on the Hercules C130 aircraft on February 11," he informed.
The Polri Humanitarian Task Force Team for Turkey and Syria will be on night duty during the month-long humanitarian mission. Upon arrival in Turkey, the team has been divided into two: one team will be on duty in Hatay city, Turkey, and comprises a medical and logistics team, and the second team will be on duty in Syria for logistics.
"Furthermore, there will be delivery of logistical aid to Syria and Turkey, which will be transported by two planes in the near future," Suryanta informed.
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Translator: Laily Rahmawaty, Resinta S
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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