ASTANA – Sixty-four people, including 42 citizens of Kazakhstan and 22 citizens of Kyrgyzstan, were evacuated to Astana on Feb. 9 from the Turkish areas affected by the devastating earthquake, reported the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s press service.
People were evacuated from the provinces of Gaziantep, Mersin, Kahramanmaras, Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.
A group of Kazakh rescuers and a canine crew arrived in the city of Hatay early Thursday morning at the instruction of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to search for three Kazakh citizens who are still missing after the earthquake, reported the Akorda press service.
The first group of 41 Kazakh rescuers arrived in Gaziantep on Feb. 7 to provide additional assistance to those affected by the earthquake, followed by the second rescue team which arrived on Feb. 8.
The Kazakh team has rescued four people from the debris so far, according to Kazakh Minister of Emergency Situations Yuriy Ilyin.
On Feb. 7, a special rescue jet brought 16 Kazakh citizens to Astana from the earthquake hotspot in Türkiye.
As of Feb. 9, according to initially available information from the Health Disaster and Coordination Center of Türkiye, 12,391 people have lost their lives, and 62,914 people have been injured in the provinces of Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis and Malatya and Elazig.
Source : The Astana Times
