Underneath a pile of rubble from a collapsed building in Turkiye, the Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent (PIAHC) extricated two bodies and a mutilated right leg as they continued their search, rescue, and retrieval (SRR) operations a week since the occurrence of a devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake.
This was the latest discovery of the urban search and rescue (USAR) team on Monday, Feb. 13. after they completed SRR operations on a collapsed apartment complex believed to house 100 persons at “Sector N” in the southern province of Adiyaman.
As of Tuesday, Feb. 14, the fatalities have yet to be identified, said Diego Agustin Mariano, head of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) joint information center.
Since the USAR team began its operations last Feb. 10, they have already assessed 34 buildings in Adiyaman. The team categorized the once business district into different sectors to ensure that all of the collapsed structures will be checked.
Over the course of their SRR operations, the USAR team led by Mr. Ranny Magno, department manager of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Fire Department, detected 10 possible alive persons, confirmed two dead individuals, and retrieved the bodies of two more fatalities which are the ones found at Sector N.
In one collapsed establishment tagged as “Building No. 7,” the USAR team “detected a possible sign of life,” prompting them to conduct an assessment on site.
The team also assessed that there were 119 possible dead or missing persons underneath the collapsed structures. Verification of the team was on-going.
On the other hand, the Philippine Emergency Medical Assistance Team (PEMAT) led by Dr. Alfonso Danac, from the Department of Health (DOH), has treated 115 patients since they established a field hospital at the Adiyaman Otagon Bus Station on Feb. 11.
The powerful earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria last Feb. 6 already claimed the lives of more than 35,000 people, according to reports.