TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The National Fire Agency on Saturday (Feb. 11) announced that the Taiwan rescue team will be returning home after completing its mission in Turkey.
The announcement was made over 120 hours after the deadly quake struck Turkey. As search-and-rescue efforts were made difficult due to the country’s harsh winter weather. The chance of finding survivors continued to dwindle with the Turkish government beginning to send heavy machinery into disaster sites for digging.
Turkey’s AKUT Search and Rescue Team withdrew on Saturday afternoon, while Taiwan’s rescue team commander had planned to withdraw on Sunday morning (Feb. 12). The Taiwan rescue team is estimated to arrive at the Istanbul airport Tuesday (Feb. 14) and return back to Taiwan by Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 15).
However, the plan is subject to change as the rescue team must ensure the route they take allows for travel.
The Taiwan rescue team in Turkey rescued two people from collapsed buildings, though one of them died later at the hospital. The team also found another survivor, though it was assigned a new task before it could rescue the individual, and a Turkish team took over the rescue effort, according to UDN.