The director of Civil Protection, Luis Alonso Amaya, emphasized this Friday that the Search and Rescue Group (USAR) of El Salvador is among the elite and first-world teams that provide aid to Turkey after the powerful earthquakes that affected that country. last Monday, February 6.
The director of Civil Protection, Luis Amaya, reported this Friday morning that personnel that make up the Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR) of El Salvador work in a collapsed structure where the victim search dog indicated that there might be people alive.
The Salvadoran Brigade has been in southern Turkey since yesterday, carrying out search and rescue tasks for victims who could be found under the rubble of buildings, homes, and other types of property located in the city of Dulkadiroğlu, Kahramanmaras Province, considered one of the areas most affected by earthquakes.
«This morning (Friday), Lieutenant Gómez informed us that the dog marked a place where there is a probability that there is a person alive; the dogs mark places where there are people alive, and we are already working there,» Amaya commented during the YSKL radio interview.
The official explained that it is a pairing, that is, work articulated between the animal and its trainer, that guides its trainer to the sectors where the brigades have to work. He added that in these cases the protocol to follow once the canine indicates the area where there are possibly victims.
«Once the dog has marked, that is where the gas detectors are initially activated,» referring to the technological equipment carried by rescuers to detect leaks.
More than 100 hours have passed since the earthquakes occurred, so rescue teams are working against the clock to locate more victims. The Salvadoran delegation is made up of 111 people, who are trained to work in these circumstances.
Luis Amaya affirmed that the government of President Nayib Bukele made a significant investment of around $5 million, and a part of that financing was used for the purchase, for example, of steel tripods, whose cost is around $100,000, which are used to lift debris more easily.
Rescuers are also equipped with devices to detect and monitor gases, plus carry chain saws, circular saws, chainsaws and state-of-the-art equipment technology.
The head of Civil Protection explained that until 2:00 in the morning this Friday, official records indicate that the average number of injured is around 80,000, and that is why it is considered one of the most serious catastrophes in the last 80 years in Turkey. which, together with Syria, have totaled more than 22,700 deaths.