Lithuanian rescue team highlights unity of Turkish nation after quakes

By Tufan Aktas, Gokhan Yilmaz and Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) – A Lithuanian rescuer who is helping quake victims in southern Türkiye praised the unity between Turkish people in the face of hardship.

Lithuania was among the many countries which sent rescue teams to Türkiye, where more than 35,400 people have been confirmed dead and tens of thousands injured so far.

Speaking to reporters at the Istanbul Airport while returning home, Donatas Gurevicius, said his team, which consists of 42 members, conducted search and rescue efforts in the quake-hit provinces of Malatya and Adiyaman for five days.

“We landed in Malatya, later on we moved to Adiyaman and did search and rescue work there together with an international team, together with Turkish team, do all the best together, shoulder to shoulder in this area.”

Expressing his sympathy to the Turkish nation over the disaster, Gurevicius said: “We saw a lot of person outside without houses, without home but we also saw what a huge unity between each other.”

“We really sometimes feel like not we helping for Turkey but Turkish nation help for us. People who lost their houses, homes and relatives in the rubble, damage houses were giving us tea, hot soup."

More than 36,100 people were killed and over 105,500 others wounded after the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes struck southern Türkiye within the space of less than 10 hours on Feb. 6, affecting around 13 million people.