İzmir Fire Brigade is in the Earthquake Zone Until the Last Citizen is Removed from the Wreck

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Fire Brigade Department pulled 6 citizens alive from the rubble in Osmaniye and Hatay. Stating that they are continuing their search and rescue efforts with hope, İsmail Derse, Head of the Fire Brigade, said, "We will continue to work until we get our last citizen."

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department teams continue their search and rescue efforts in the earthquake zone. The firefighters, who were on the field with a team of approximately 150 experts, rescued 6 citizens alive during the search and rescue efforts in Hatay. The teams also ensure that the bodies are safely delivered to the families.

“We set off right away”

İzmir Fire Department Head İsmail Derse said, “We immediately started our preparations with the information we received from the 112 center at the first moment of the earthquake. In the first stage, we set out with 8 vehicles and a personnel group of 40 people. We brought out 6 of our citizens alive in Osmaniye and Hatay,” he said. Stating that they went to Osmaniye first, İsmail Derse said, “We worked in Osmaniye for about 3 days. On the morning of the same day, our other team arrived in Osmaniye, and we reached 146 people. Then we went to Hatay. "Unfortunately, we dug 77 bodies out of the rubble in Osmaniye and Hatay," he said.

“Waiting for a miracle”

Noting that they never lost hope, İsmail Derse said, “We would like to reach more people. There's mainly debris piled up here. The working environment is very difficult. There are buildings with heavy cracks and there are always aftershocks above the magnitude of 4. We continue to work by taking the safety precautions of our staff. Hoping for a miracle. We will continue to work until we get our last citizen," he said.

“Disaster management needs to be known”

İsmail Derse, who also mentioned the coordination problem experienced from the first moment of the earthquake, continued his speech with the following words: “We had a lot of problems with coordination. We took a lot of initiative to make things work. We also had transportation problems. Construction machines blocked the roads with excavation. There were too many factors that slowed our pace. There is no electricity, no communication, everywhere is dark. A holistic awareness is required here. Managing a disaster is not just search and rescue. We also need to bring the subcomponents one after the other.”