Czech rescue team saves three from rubble after earthquake in Turkey

The Urban Search and Rescue team comprised of firefighters from the Czech Republic has helped locate and extract three survivors from collapsed buildings in Adiyaman, Turkey following Monday's devastating earthquake, spokesperson Jakub Kozák told Czech News Agency on Saturday.

The Czech team extracted two survivors themselves and participated in the rescue of another woman, Kozák noted. He added that the Czech rescuers have also pulled 32 bodies of victims from the rubble as of Saturday morning.

The Czech rescue team located and extracted two women aged 17 and 47 during the day on Friday. A third woman was located by Terezka, a six-year-old Giant Schnauzer from the team, in the early hours of the morning. Czech rescuers cooperated with locals on her extraction.

"At that moment, we did not have the necessary forces and resources to start the rescue work, so we passed the information on to the local forces and they managed to free the woman alive thanks to our intervention," Jiří Němčík, commander of the Czech team, told Právo.

"Terezka is a six-year-old female Giant Schnauzer and is certified for scavenging," added spokesperson Jana Urbancová. She described how the team's dogs perform individual sweeps of areas in search of survivors, with a second dog always confirming the first's search.

The Czech rescue team has been in Adiyaman since Tuesday, and have concentrated their efforts on searching the rubble of two large buildings in the areas. They aim to complete their search this weekend.

"The roads are mostly passable in Adiyaman, but electric power and water remain unavailable. Our team's health condition is good," Kozák said. "We plan to end the intervention there today. Our team's further deployment will be discussed with the coordinator."

Citing security concerns, Austrian and German teams in the area have suspended their rescue efforts and remain at a base in the Hatay province, about 300 kilometers from Adiyaman. The Czech team, however, has not reported any issues.

"According to the information from the Czech Urban Search and Rescue team commander, the security situation in our locality is good, the state and local police are present here, and a part of the army, or its units, have their camp next to ours. Close cooperation is underway, with no conflicts occurring," Kozák said.

On Monday, portions of southern Turkey and northwestern Syria were devastated by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. The current death toll stands at more than 24,000 people. Rescue teams continue to search rubble from collapsed buildings in the area, but the chances of locating survivors decreases as time goes on.