Spanish rescuer underlines scale of quakes that jolted southern Türkiye

By Seda Sevencan and Kenan Irtak

ISTANBUL (AA) – A Spanish firefighter who joined the search and rescue operation in southern Türkiye said they were not expecting to witness the sheer scale of destruction caused by last week's twin quakes.

Speaking to reporters at Istanbul Airport, Salvador Luque, head of a Spanish rescue team who conducted rescue efforts in Kahramanmaras province, said they brought a team of firefighters.

“We offered ourselves to the Turkish government through the embassy. We came with all the illusion of being able to work on what our job is, which is the emergency, but we never thought that we were going to encounter the disaster, the catastrophe that we have encountered,” Luque said.

“On a mental level, we leave with the pain of not being able to give more service to this town,” Luque said.

He further said the Spanish government will be with the Turkish people after all this.

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 3,500 lives have been lost.​​​​​​​