Cape Town - Support from South African humanitarian organisations continued to stream in for Türkiye and Syria on Tuesday, as more than 5 200 people were recorded dead while bodies were still being retrieved.
Gift of the Givers South Africa’s team left for Türkiye on Tuesday night, while Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) staff members from the university’s Emergency Medical Sciences Department flew out to assist with search and rescue operations.
On Tuesday, rescuers were digging people out of the rubble of collapsed buildings in a “race against time”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 south eastern provinces. The magnitude 7.8 quake was the deadliest in Türkiye since 1999.
Harsh winter weather hampered search efforts and heightened the plight of the homeless.
Gift of the Givers project manager, Ali Sablay, said Western Cape Search and Rescue volunteers departed from Cape Town International Airport on Tuesday.
“The teams will be taking along essential search and rescue equipment.
The team will be sent off by Türkiye Consul General Senin Yesildag and Turkish Turkish Airlines GM,” said Sablay.
Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesperson, Clayson Monyela, said while they have not received any reports of South Africans affected by the earthquake, they were aware of four South African prisoners in the country.
"We’ve not been alerted to any of our nationals affected by the earthquake. There’s four SA prisoners we know of, but they were not injured. They’re fine,”said Monyela.
On Monday, Gift of the Givers rescue teams were at the head office in Pietermaritzburg preparing specialised equipment for transport to Türkiye.
“The equipment arrived at our new warehouse in Johannesburg early (Tuesday) morning. Our teams are now in the process of organising the equipment and (made) final preparations for their trip to Türkiye.
Our Hilaal Hospital near the Turkish border, has been reactivated in response to the growing number of injuries resulting from the earthquake.
A team of medical professionals have been deployed to address the pressing need for medical care in the area,” Gift of the Givers said.
CPUT has a long-standing working relationship with GoG staff members, previously joining the disaster response NGO to the 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 2018 tsunami in Indonesia.
Acting head of department for Emergency Medical Sciences at CPUT, Dr Simpiwe Sobuwa, will be joining the mission along with colleagues Louis Jordaan, Rozaan Norval, Xavier Millar and Raina Gihwala.
Sobuwa said they were eager to use their skills to assist in a natural disaster of this scale and will be taking specialised rescue equipment on the mission.
“We would also gain valuable experience in assisting in an international disaster,” said Sobuwa.
CPUT Emergency Medical Science students are trained in a range of search and rescue efforts including mountain rescue, vehicle collisions and complicated natural disasters like earthquakes.
Meanwhile the Gatesville Mosque said it would be making a special collection during Friday prayers later this week to support relief efforts.
“All funds collected will be forwarded to the humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers who already have a team doing relief work on the ground.The mosque reached out in a similar manner to many disaster situations at home and abroad in the past,” a statement read.
Zohra Teke, owner of Sofran Istanbul in Durban and a freelance journalist, said she had heard from family in Türkiye that the weather condition was bad and this was hampering rescue efforts.
“I have heard from family members in Türkiye that there are people crying out for help trapped underneath the rubble but it is difficult to reach them.
Hatay is one of the worst affected cities and with the airport closed, it is a long drive from the capital city Ankara which hasn’t been affected to Hatay and the weather is not helping.”
Teke added that Türkiye doesn’t have enough rescue teams and machinery.
“There are people that are using their bare hands to try to rescue people from the rubble.
Every minute and every hour just makes it more critical for people trapped under the rubble. The city of Gaziantep has also been badly affected, this city is on the border of Syria and also has a lot of Syrians living there.
For more information to assist, contact Gatesville Mosque’s Sataar Parker on 084 25 88 786.
To contribute towards GoG interventions visit: http://www. giftofthegivers.org/make-a-difference or call 0800 786 911
Additional reporting by Yogashen Pillay
Cape Times