Philippine rescue team to stop ops in quake-hit Turkey on February 24 –OCD

The Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent to Turkiye (PIAHC) will stop its operations in quake-hit Turkey on February 24, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Tuesday.

“Both teams of PIAHC will cease to operate on February 24, 2023, as their last day of operations,” OCD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Raffy Alejandro said in a bulletin.

He added that the PIAHC will return to the Philippines no later than March 1.

The urban search and rescue (USAR) team from the Philippines was placed on-standby due to decreasing signs of survivors in their area.

“Due to decrease in chance of finding signs of life and rescuing survivors, the USAR team of PIAHC was earlier placed on-standby awaiting requests for assistance on retrieval operations from the Turkish Local Emergency Management Authorities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health - Philippine Emergency Medical Assistance Team (DOH-PEMAT) continues to provide medical care to the earthquake victims. It has served 668 patients as of Monday.

The Philippines sent an 82-man team to Turkey to help in the search and rescue operations.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that the death toll in Turkey due to the 7.8 magnitude earthquake was over 41,000.

On Sunday, the Philippine Embassy said a Filipino woman and her three children who have been missing since the February 6 earthquake were found dead. Earlier, the embassy reported that two more Filipinos had died in the disaster. — DVM, GMA Integrated News