Over 2,400 quake victims treated at Indian field hospital in Türkiye's Hatay

By Mustafa Deveci and Dildar Baykan Atalay

ISKENDERUN, Hatay (AA) - More than 2,400 patients have been treated at a field hospital set up by the Indian army in Türkiye’s southern Hatay province, one of the regions worst-hit areas in the Feb. 6 twin quakes.

A total of 99 health workers, including 13 doctors, are working at the facility in Iskenderun district, which also has X-ray and laboratory services.

The team from India landed in Adana a day after the earthquakes and then drove to Iskenderun, according to Lt. Col. Yaduvir Singh, head of the field hospital.

The hospital was set up and opened to patients by the evening of Feb. 8 and has since “treated more than 2,400 patients,” Singh told Anadolu.

“Turkish people have been very helpful. We are getting a lot of support from the Turkish government, as well as the people. All the doctors, as well as interpreters and nurses, have been very helpful and they are volunteering to help us,” he said.

“Thanks to your support, we are able to function here. We are committed to the cause and we will leave no stone unturned.”

The Indian team has been overwhelmed by the “very warm response,” he added.

“People actually love us. It has been a very brotherly feeling, so it was really emotional,” said Singh.

Lt. Col. N Kisen, another specialist at the hospital, said it was “a privilege and an honor” to be able to help Turkish people.

“Of course, it is a very sad time and we are struggling for the people of Türkiye. But I myself feel privileged to be part of this team to do whatever little I can, and to lend an ear to those who are suffering,” he said.

With the love shown by Turkish people, we don’t feel like foreigners at all, he added.

“In this hour of crisis, we are with the people of Türkiye. At the end of the day, we are all humans. We have the same emotions. We all have the same basic needs,” said Kisen.

“So whatever the people of Türkiye are going through, we all feel it. Nobody should have to face so much trauma and pain … Hopefully we will be able to rebuild from the ashes after this crisis.”

On Feb. 6, two powerful earthquakes struck southern Türkiye, centered in Kahramanmaras and shaking nine other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

The death toll has now climbed over 35,400, with thousands more injured.

Felt in several countries, the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 tremors also caused massive destruction in northern Syria, where more than 3,600 lives have been lost.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara