Fire Service team going to Turkey

A 12-member rescue team from the Fire Service and Civil Defence is being sent to Turkey to conduct search and rescue operations in the aftermath of Monday's horrific earthquake.

The 12-member rescue team of the FSCD has been prepared to be sent along with the joint support team sent by the Bangladesh Armed Forces Department on instructions of the prime minister.

This is the FSCD's first overseas trip to conduct rescue operations in the international arena.

Due to the terrible earthquake that occurred in Turkey on Monday, international help has been sought by the Turkish government.

In view of this, the prime minister has given instructions to send a combined aid team to Turkey under the Bangladesh Armed Forces, said a press release adding that in the light of the instructions, Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defence Directorate Brigadier General Md Main Uddin prepared the 12-member rescue team.

It is noted that each of the 12-member rescue team are internationally trained in conducting search and rescue operations in collapsed buildings as per International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) standards.

Rescuers in Turkey and war-ravaged Syria searched through the cold night into Tuesday, hoping to pull more survivors from the rubble after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed more than 4,000 people and toppled thousands of buildings across a wide region.

Authorities feared the death toll from Monday's pre-dawn earthquake and aftershocks would keep climbing as rescuers looked for survivors among tangles of metal and concrete spread across the region beset by Syria's 12-year civil war and refugee crisis, reports AP.