Illustrative photo – Buildings collapsed during an earthquake in the city of Golbasi in the Turkish province of Adiyaman, February 8, 2023.
Ankara – Czech Ambassador to Turkey Pavel Vacek confirmed the news of the death of a Czech citizen in the earthquake, according to him, no other Czechs are now among the missing or injured. In a telephone interview with ČTK today, Vacek said that he is now heading to the province of Adiyaman, where the Czech victim of the natural disaster lived, to visit a team of Czech rescuers who are helping there with searching collapsed buildings and rescuing victims.
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Photo gallery: Earthquake in Turkey and Syria
“At the moment, we do not know of any other Czechs who are missing, injured or in any trouble. But I do not rule out that this may change,” said the head of the Czech embassy. According to him, the embassy is currently in contact with all citizens who lived in the affected provinces in the south-east of the country at the time of the disaster, and according to him, everyone is now safe. rescuers. According to him, the fact that the Czech victim of the earthquake came from the same area is just a coincidence.
According to the ambassador, the damage in the affected cities is enormous. “We drove through the city of Pazarcik, where the epicenter (of the tremors) was located. The damage is very extensive, roughly one-third or one-fifth of the buildings have collapsed. The devastation is widespread,” he said. “Rescue work is underway, but the cities are completely paralyzed,” he added.
The Czech USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) team specialized in searching for people in the rubble has been in Turkey since Tuesday. A team of almost 70 people is searching two collapsed buildings in Adiyaman, according to a spokesman for the fire department, Czech rescuers rescued three dead people, including two children, from the wreckage by Wednesday evening.
