Emirati field hospital treats over 3,500 people in quake-hit Türkiye

By Baybars Can

GAZIANTEP, Türkiye (AA) – An Emirati field hospital established in Türkiye’s southern Gaziantep province spares no effort to heal the wounds of people affected by the massive earthquakes last month.

A medical team of the United Arab Emirates arrived in Türkiye on Feb. 3, three days after the quakes hit, and their field hospital began operating on Feb. 12 in the Islahiye town.

In an interview with Anadolu, Col. Ali Muhammad Khamis Al-Zaabi, the head of the field hospital, said that this step came "under the direction of the Emirati leadership and as a national and Islamic duty."

More than 46,100 people were killed in Türkiye by the earthquakes that struck on Feb. 6, according to officials.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and rocked 10 other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa and Elazig.

Around 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected, as well as many others in northwestern Syria.

Since the earthquakes, all Arab countries and people, topped by the UAE, have raced to support and provide relief to those affected and to direct aid and donations for those affected in Türkiye.

The UAE announced on March 6 that it had sent 202 cargo planes, carrying 5,715 tons of relief aid, as part of Operation Chivalrous Knight 2, which it launched after the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

- Equipped hospitals

Al-Zaabi said the hospital comprises of 20 doctors with various specialties, including general physicians, pediatricians, surgeons, intensive care physicians, anesthesiologists, and orthopedists, in addition to a laboratory and an X-ray department.

The field hospital "has treated more than 3,500 medical cases to date and operated 30 surgeries," he said.

In addition to the field hospital in Gaziantep, since the first day of the earthquakes, the UAE opened a second field hospital in Hatay’s Reyhanli district, named Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Field Hospital, and it included 200 beds, 20 intensive care units and two operating rooms.

On Feb. 12, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed visited the disaster-affected areas in Kahramanmaras and the headquarters of the UAE search and rescue team in the province.

After two weeks of its massive relief activity, the UAE announced on Feb. 22 the transition of Operation Chivalrous Knight 2 “from the rapid response phase to the recovery and rehabilitation phase to support brothers and friends affected by the earthquake."

The new phase includes dispatching ships to transport humanitarian food and medical aid, while resuming flights in line with priorities, according to Emirates News Agency WAM.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat in Ankara