Turkish people have expressed their gratitude to the team, led by Maj. Gen. Pham Van Ty, Deputy Chief of the Office of the National Committee for Incident and Disaster Response, Search and Rescue and Deputy Director of the VPA's Department of Search and Rescue, for their search and rescue efforts.
After three days of working, the mission of the Ministry of National Defence found 11 locations where victims were buried, two of them showed survival signs.
The 76-strong rescue teams of the VPA, along with 35 tonnes of cargo, departed for Turkey on February 12 night to assist the country in recovery efforts following the devastating earthquake.
Meanwhile, over the past five days, apart from performing their tasks at earthquake sites, the team from the Ministry of Public Security, handed over medical equipment and medicines from the ministry to local authorities, according to Deputy Director of the Police Department of Fire Prevention, Fighting and Rescue Colonel Nguyen Minh Khuong.
They will continue coordinating with search and rescue forces from foreign countries like the US, Uzbekistan and China in the coming days, and plan to visit victims in Adiyaman, home to many Vietnamese.
The 24-member team of the ministry have engaged in search and rescue efforts in the Turkish southeastern city of Adiyaman, which is among the localities bearing the brunt of the earthquake, after they arrived in Istanbul International Airport on February 10. As of 19:00 on February 16, Turkey recorded a total of 36,187 deaths and 108,061 injuries due to the huge earthquake and its aftershocks.
