Malaysian army medical team on duty for earthquake victims in Türkiye

By Cuneyt Celik and Abdullah Soylemez

ADIYAMAN, Türkiye (AA) – The disaster response team of the Malaysian army are providing health care in a field hospital they established in Türkiye’s southeastern Adiyaman province which was heavily hit by the massive earthquakes last week.

The group of 110 medical personnel, which comprises 13 doctors, 16 specialists, 81 nurses, and technicians, set up a field hospital in the Celikhan district after the twin quakes struck southern Türkiye on Feb. 6.

The field hospital, which can examine 150 patients per day, provides tomography scan and has a laboratory, intensive care unit, and operating and delivery rooms. General surgeon, orthopedist, gynecologist, dentist, and pediatrician serve in the hospital.

Brigadier General Dr. Amran Amir Hamzah told Anadolu that they arrived in Celikhan soon after the earthquakes and established the field hospital.

They established the hospital in a couple of days, he said. “Many of our physician friends came here and we set up an operating room. We have all the equipment (for surgery), and can perform operation here.”

The field hospital, Hamzah said, will serve for another six weeks or more. It treated more than 160 people in a couple of days, he added.

“We sent emergency patients to Malatya (province). We here also provide medicine for patients. We can buy medicines we do not have from hospitals in the region,” he further said

“This is the first time I have seen such an earthquake,” Hamzah admitted.

Major Mohammed Fuad, an emergency room doctor, said as soon as they heard about the earthquakes, they packed up and set out to help the region.

He said they came to Türkiye to help people but Türkish people also assisted them a lot, especially when they were setting up the tents and meeting their need for clothing and heating.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes on Feb. 6 were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, and Elazig. More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.

At least 41,156 people were killed by the massive earthquakes in Türkiye, according to the latest official figures. Thousands of others were injured.