PH rescue team returns from Turkey
The 82-member Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent (PIAHC) in Türkiye was expected yesterday.
“The PIAHC will be arriving on February 28 around 10 p.m., at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3,” the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said in an advisory.
Before its departure from the quake-battered nation, the Philippine Emergency Medical Assistance Team (PEMAT), which is attached to the PIAHC, aided 1,022 patients in Türkiye’s southeastern city of Adiyaman from Feb. 11 to 24.
The PIAHC left the Philippines for Istanbul on Feb. 8 and arrived there the next day.
Meanwhile, PIAHC’s urban search and rescue (USAR) team retrieved six bodies and assessed 36 buildings from Feb. 10 to 15.
The OCD earlier said Ankara will no longer accept a second contingent from Manila to help in operations in the aftermath of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that rocked the country last February as the chances of finding live survivors dim as days go by.
The Turkish government, however, said the Philippines can send or donate non-food items, he added. Philippine News Agency
