Pinoy quake victim in Turkey rescued, 4 others missing —community leader

A Filipino in earthquake-hit Turkey who was earlier reported dead has been rescued and is now safe, according to Filipino community leader in Ankara on Thursday.

However, around four other Filipinos who lived in the same building as the rescued Filipino are still missing, Cherilyn Santos told Super Radyo dzBB in an interview.

"Kahapon may na-recover na isang kababayan natin na two days ago, napabalitang patay, kinonfirm ng amo na patay. Pero na-recover siya kahapon lang ng hapon. So far, safe po siya," said Santos, president of the Filipino community in Ankara.

(Yesterday, one of our countrymen was recovered. S/he was reported dead two days ago by his/her boss, but s/he was recovered yesterday afternoon. So far, s/he's safe.)

Santos said she is not authorized to reveal the identity of the Filipino

"Sa mga kababayan natin, meron pa talagang nawawala dahil magkakasama sila sa isang building," she said. "Lima po sila eh, pero na-recover na 'yung isa."

(There are Filipinos living in the same building who are still missing, There were five of them, but one has already been recovered.)

The Philippine Embassy in Turkey has so far confirmed that two Filipinos were injured in the earthquake and have now recovered.

The embassy also said its personnel have started visiting areas affected by the earthquake to distribute aid and check on the condition of affected Filipinos.

There are at least 248 Filipinos affected by the earthquake, the embassy said.

The combined reported death toll across Turkey and neighboring Syria has risen past 12,000, according to a Reuters report.

The Philippine government has sent a response team to Turkey to help in the ongoing operations. According to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the team has already arrived in Istanbul.

"Our response team just confirmed that they just landed at Istanbul," OCD Joint Information Center head Diego Agustin Mariano told reporters.

He said the team landed in Istanbul at 12:08 p.m. (Philippine time).

In a Facebook post, the Manila International Airport Authority said it provided assistance to the members of the Philippine Humanitarian Response Team as they went through pre-departure formalities in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Wednesday.

The contingent, composed of Emergency Medical and Urban Search and Rescue Teams from 525th ECBn, PA, 505th SRG, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Department of Health, and OCD, boarded Turkish Airline flight TK85 in NAIA Terminal 3.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. earlier said an 85-man team would be deployed to Turkey. —AOL/KBK, GMA News