The Dutch air force has now evacuated 52 injured victims and their families from the disaster area in Turkey with a Hercules transport aircraft. They have been transferred to hospitals in a safer area in recent days where they can recover.
The Dutch have been in the country since February 10 and have their base in Antalya on a military part of the airport. There they have their own hangar and platform. A nearby hotel serves as a command post from which operations are directed.
Normally, the Hercules carries heavy military equipment or soldiers, but now the huge ‘belly’ of the device is an infirmary and they can take up to 30 patients at a time plus their families. However, the device was not completely full. “The Turks determine the pace of who can be transported,” says commander Maurice Schonk of the detachment.
The pilots have now mainly picked up injured people from the Turkish city of Adana, all of whom have previously been rescued under the rubble. They also visited the heavily affected Adiyaman. Especially in the latter city, the flights are impressive, especially at night. “Then you see black spots in the city and you know that everything has been destroyed there.”
Older people come on board, but also very young children. “We have cuddly toys for them to reassure them. That works very well, we know since we had to pick up Afghan interpreters in Kabul,” says Schonk.
Free up beds
The aim of the flights is to free up beds in local hospitals close to the disaster area as quickly as possible. There are still many injured people in the disaster area who have not yet been helped, for example because they wanted to stay with a rescue operation of loved ones.
Especially in Hatay, where the Dutch rescue team of Usar also stayed, hundreds of people are still waiting for help. The local airport is now being repaired as soon as possible. If the situation is safe, the Dutch would also like to help there. “But only if safety is under control. We do not want the same situation as in Kabul, where people rushed onto the runways en masse because they wanted to join a flight.”
Watch our videos about the earthquake in Turkey and Syria in the playlist below:
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.
#Hercules #takes #injured #people #disaster #area #Turkey