Drenthe aid workers leave Turkish disaster area: ‘This cannot be compared to anything’

Janine Schopmeijer from Emmen and Rieks Jansen from Papenvoort will return from Turkey tomorrow morning with rescue dog Joschi. They searched under the rubble in the southern Turkish city of Antioch for earthquake victims, but that mission is now over.

Annemiek Krol of RHGD Reddingshonden, who speaks from the Netherlands about the work, says that the chance of finding survivors is now very small. “Today, Schopmeijer and Jansen were still on the road, but then the camp where they are staying will be evacuated. So they are getting on a plane back to the Netherlands.”

During the work, the emergency workers from Drenthe were led by the Urban Search and Rescue Team, which was sent to the earthquake area after the disaster. The team includes people from the police, fire brigade, ambulance and Defense. “They receive calls and reports about possible survivors,” says Krol. “In recent days, that number has continued to decrease. But today we are still looking, hoping to get people under the rubble.”

(Text continues below the photos)

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