NDRF team, dog squad return after 10-day rescue operation in Turkey

NEW DELHI: A 47-member National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team along with dog squad members Rambo and Honey returned to India on Friday after conducting a 10-day-long rescue operation from earthquake-hit Turkey.

India has extended humanitarian support to Turkey which was hit by powerful earthquake. An Indian Air Force C17 flight with over 50 personnel from the NDRF and a specially trained dog squad along with necessary equipment, including medical supplies, drilling machines and other equipment required for the aid efforts departed for Turkey.

The specially trained Labrador breed dog squad, which is an expert in sniffing and other key skills during rescue operations in disaster-hit regions, left India on Tuesday for Turkey with two separate teams of NDRF– a 51-member team which arrived there in the morning and another 50-member team which reached by the evening.

India announced ‘Operation Dost’ shortly after the magnitude 7.8 quake ravaged Turkey and sent a team from the Indian Army to set up 60 Para Field Hospital and the NDRF for search and rescue operations, including relief and humanitarian assistance to the ‘Dost’ country.

While India’s National Disaster Response Force miraculously rescued a six-year-old girl and made headlines, a lot of the credit for the daring rescue ought to be reserved for ‘Romeo’ and ‘Julie’, part of the NDRF’s dog squad.

Romeo and Julie succeeded where machines failed. The dog squad was instrumental in detecting the little girl’s whereabouts under tonnes of rubble. Without their help, the little girl could not have survived.

India stands with Turkey just like a friend in need said National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officer Ravinder, part of India’s ongoing rescue operations in Turkey under ‘Operation Dost’.

“NDRF is participating in rescue operations and is making efforts to rescue those stuck in the ruins. The police and army are working together for the same,” Ravinder said.

The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and northwestern Syria has gone past 41,000.