NOS News•
The Dutch rescue team USAR, which has been searching for victims of the earthquakes in Turkey last week, is satisfied with the number of twelve people it has rescued. That number is above expectations, said team leader Job Kramer in the radio program NOS With an Eye on Tomorrow.
Kramer realizes that the number of people rescued is in stark contrast to the number of deaths, which number in the tens of thousands. “But twelve is a lot for us, we have never saved so many people in an earthquake.”
In total, international rescue teams have pulled more than 200 people alive from under the rubble in the past week, according to Kramer, not counting the number of rescues by local aid workers. Kramer calls that “an unprecedented amount”.
The team consisted of 65 people and eight dogs. The team was able to save people, especially in the first days after the quake, but after that it became more difficult. “You see that after that the chances of survival decrease very quickly, in this cold.”
One of the highlights, according to Kramer, was the rescue of an 8-year-old boy on Friday. “Every rescue is of course very special, but this one came at a time when we no longer expected it. And then it turned out that it was about a child, who is also relatively unharmed. You will never forget that look in his eyes.”
The team was last at work yesterday and will fly back to the Netherlands on Thursday. The work was mentally tough, says the USAR team leader. In the coming days, and also afterwards, much attention will therefore be paid to mental processing.
“We mainly do this together, but we also receive external support,” says Kramer. “With room for emotions and stories, to give everything a place. This will not be over for a while.”
