‘We just did our best to save lives’: Hong Kong rescue team recalls obstacles, lessons learned in Turkey quake mission
- Plummeting temperatures and downed infrastructure among challenges faced in nine-day mission, team commander Yiu Men-yeung says
- Group of 59 sent by city learned valuable lessons during nine-day mission, including how to bolster coordination and intelligence gathering, he says
Freezing weather, crippled infrastructure and loss of communication signals were just some of the harsh realities faced by a 59-member Hong Kong rescue team in quake-stricken Turkey during a nine-day operation.
The team returned to the city late Friday night, wrapping up their life-saving mission where they pulled four survivors from the ruins.
Team commander Yiu Men-yeung, deputy chief fire officer of the Fire Services Department, recounted the various challenges faced during his first international rescue mission.
“Firstly, the infrastructure there was badly damaged. The signals for communication were also unstable,” he said. “Coupled with the risks of tremors, our rescue mission was particularly dangerous.”
The cold at night was another challenge faced by the team members, who had to camp outdoors in the southern Turkish province of Hatay, where temperatures drop below 0 degree Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) in the evening.
He said the Hong Kong team was not used to such conditions, and thanked the Turkish authorities for providing them with additional blankets.
The city sent the team comprising firefighters and ambulance personnel, as well as officers from the Security Bureau, the Immigration Department and the Department of Health, on February 8, just days after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and neighbouring Syria.
Hong Kong rescuers praised as they return from rescue mission in quake-hit Turkey
Language was another barrier, but the team relied on rescue dogs to conduct initial searches for signs of life.
Once the canines identified areas where survivors might be trapped, the group would narrow down the location through the use of life detectors, before starting to dig.
When asked whether he had wished his team had found more survivors, Yiu said: “We just did our best to save lives.”
The death toll from the devastating earthquake and aftershocks stood at more than 45,000 by Saturday.
The team commander also recalled learning a lot from working alongside the rescue team sent by Beijing.
“Following an internationally recognised rescue team, and to work alongside them, provided us with a valuable lesson for our rescue team in the future,” he said, citing the examples of coordination and intelligence gathering.
He was also made aware of the value of providing proper warm meals for the rescue members.
He said the mainland Chinese team had prepared enough materials and tools, which they could use to make proper dishes at the end of every long day, whereas the Hong Kong group got by on instant noodles and light meals.
A hot meal, he said, definitely helped boost morale.
He thanked his counterparts from the north, Beijing’s foreign ministry office in Hong Kong and its embassy in Turkey, as well as the Chinese business communities there for support.
“Thank you to our compatriots from Hong Kong and the mainland for their support. Their cheering was a great sign of encouragement for us,” he said.
Yiu said he wished those who had lost loved ones in the quake to “step out of the pain as soon as possible and return to a normal life”.
Witnessing the scale of the destruction and grief has also reminded him to be grateful for his home city, he said.
“Hong Kong is a land of fortune. We hope we can treasure our city, protect it and build it together,” he said.
