French firefighters in awe of Turkish hospitality

By Feiza Ben Mohamed

NICE, France (AA) – Members of the French NGO International Emergency Firefighters (PUI) received a text message just as the first of two earthquakes jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6.

Volunteers ready to go to Kahramanmaras province were asked to inform their managers of their availability, and a team of 36 volunteer firefighters left France on a plane to Türkiye.

Members of this team, Stephane Giacoletto and Jean-Francois Gati told Anadolu about their 8-day-mission in Türkiye.

The pair said they were experienced and had already attended such operations in Indonesia and Japan.

"When we arrived in Kahramanmaras, we saw people on the streets, under blankets, in extremely low temperatures, in front of their collapsed houses, expecting to find members of their families," Giacoletto said.

The locals gave them information so that they could locate people trapped under the rubble.

"We worked hand in hand, we thought they were a part of our group," he added.

Jean-Francois Gati, a retired firefighter from Cannes in southern France, said that "the Turks brought food, to express their gratitude, despite their pain."

"It warms my heart to think about it again, I have tears in my eyes, it was so intense," he continued, adding that those people "had nothing, but gave everything."

"There will be a before and an after Türkiye thanks to these powerful - and humanely unforgettable - eight days," his coworker Giacoletto added.

- Saving survivors

PUI teams did their best to evacuate as many survivors as they could from the rubble.

"It's our duty, we only did our job," the firefighters said, responding to people hailing them as heroes.

"Despite the big aftershocks which frightened us, we managed to save two people: an 11-year-old girl and a 62-year-old woman," the firefighters said, adding that this was the "biggest reward."

- Role of Turkish Airlines

The 36-member French team with three rescue dogs went back to France on a Turkish Airlines' plane after eight days.

The airline offered them this flight and helped the team with the administrative process.

"It's the first time that a company offered such a kind gesture," the firefighters said, adding that the company truly facilitated the administrative process, including the transfer of their equipment.

On Feb. 6, two powerful quakes struck southern Türkiye.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 tremors were centered in Kahramanmaras and rocked 10 other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig. Some 13.5 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the tremors that struck in less than 10 hours.

More than 46,100 people were killed by the back-to-back quakes in Türkiye, according to the latest official figures. Thousands of others were injured.

*Writing by Nur Asena Erturk in Ankara