Turkish naval hospital ship helps earthquake victims

By Sezgin Pancar

HATAY, Türkiye (AA) – The TCG Bayraktar, the landing craft of the Turkish army, which was converted into a floating hospital after the earthquakes, serves those in need in the southern Turkish province where it is anchored.

Health workers on the ship with a capacity of 560 beds deployed by the Turkish army at MMK Metallurgy Port in the Dortyol District of Hatay province which was severely affected by the two earthquakes that hit the region, helped those injured in the quakes.

Welcoming the people of the region who want to be examined as well as the earthquake victims, TCG Bayraktar served 306 people in the first 24 hours after starting its service.

The ship has an operating room and intensive care units.

Speaking to Anadolu, one of the patients at the ship hospital, Nazan Donmez, said that she was injured from her foot. “The wall fell on me. In the aftershocks, I was stuck under the ceiling,” she said, adding she was pulled out from the debris after being stuck five hours under rubble.

Another earthquake victim, Hacer Basak, was at the hospital for her nine-month-old son Burak who had a fever from staying outside during the quake night.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in Kahramanmaras, affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces, also including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

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