Chinese rescue team recounts experiences in quake-hit Türkiye

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ambulance sirens, the hum of construction vehicles, and the silent moments when life detectors were used to find survivors are fresh memories for Zhang Yu, even after she returned home from Türkiye.

Zhang was part of an 82-member search and rescue team dispatched by the Ministry of Emergency Management to Türkiye after strong earthquakes jolted the country and neighboring Syria on Feb. 6, causing heavy casualties.

The team returned to Beijing aboard a chartered plane on Friday afternoon after completing their rescue missions.

Before departing from Türkiye, the team left their remaining food, drinking water, tents and medical supplies for those in need in the affected areas.

Despite challenges such as aftershocks, biting cold and a dearth of logistics supplies, the team searched an area of more than 700,000 square meters and pulled six survivors from the rubble, said Zhao Ming, head of the rescue team.

Following joint efforts by Chinese rescue workers and local counterparts, a pregnant woman was saved from the rubble of a collapsed eight-story building, and a man was rescued from the debris, more than 150 hours after the quake.

"Our rescue team members worked hard to find signs of life and did not give up hope," Zhao said.

The team, composed of personnel from the Beijing fire and rescue corps, the National Earthquake Response Support Service and the Emergency General Hospital in Beijing, departed for Türkiye on Feb. 7, carrying rescue equipment and other supplies.

"It was a heart-wrenching moment when I heard the news that a 7.8-magnitude earthquake had jolted Türkiye," team member Yao Zilong said. "China received support from other countries when it was hit by powerful quakes. Now it's our turn to send rescue teams to the frontline and do our best to save lives."

Many Turkish people have come forward to express their heartfelt appreciation for the rescue workers. "Chinese rescue teams worked tirelessly and made tremendous efforts," said Baris Doster, a scholar at Marmara University in Istanbul.

Emir Kaan Karaman, a student volunteer living in Istanbul, was assigned as a translator for the Chinese team by Türkiye's disaster management agency.

"They showed the same dedication as one would expect from a Turk, just like someone looking for their own family [beneath the rubble]," Karaman said. "They were giving their all, not just their technical knowledge, but from their hearts."

The rescue team dispatched by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region also returned to Beijing aboard the same chartered plane on Friday afternoon, after completing its rescue mission in Türkiye, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.