The three Blue Sky Rescue members from Jiangyin, Wuxi fly to Turkey on Feb 7 to participate in rescue operations after earthquakes. [Photo/WeChat account: wuxifabu2013]
Three members of Blue Sky Rescue in Jiangyin, a county-level city in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, along with other BSR members departed for Turkey on Feb 7 to offer humanitarian relief.
Two devastating earthquakes hit Turkey on Feb 6 at magnitude 7.8. The death toll of the earthquakes jumped to more than 7,000 people on Feb 7 and thousands of buildings were reported collapsed in a wide area extending from Syria to Turkey.
The Chinese government immediately offered humanitarian aid, dispatching rescue and medical teams to the two countries and providing much-needed relief supplies for Turkey.
For this rescue, Jiangyin BSR members carried equipment such as forcible entry tools that can work in tight spaces and life detection instruments.
Aftershocks are still occurring in the earthquake-stricken areas in Turkey and a blizzard is still ongoing in these areas, making rescue operations difficult.
Despite these difficulties, the three Jiangyin BSR members said that they are confident in their abilities.
The BSR in Jiangyin boasts abundant emergency rescue experience and the members have undertaken more than 100 rescue missions at home and abroad, including the tsunami in the Philippines, flood in Myanmar and Laos, and earthquake in Nepal.
