A magnitude-7.0 earthquake devastated the city on Jan. 12, prompting an international outpouring of aid. After other rescue teams abandoned hopes of finding any more survivors in the wreckage of a five-story Caribbean shopping center, the Turkish rescue team, GEA, pulled out five people from under the rubble last weekend.The team began searching for survivors in the ruins of the building in the afternoon of Jan. 14. After a 17-hour search, the team discovered that there may be survivors and informed a UN team, asking for support. The South Florida Rescue team also joined the Turkish team on Saturday night. The Turkish team then rescued two Haitians, a 7-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man, 36 hours after beginning their search. The two said they were unhurt, but thirsty.
A 49-year-old woman was also pulled out alive from the shopping center on Sunday. A relative of the woman, Fadel al-Maghrabi, paid a thank you visit to the Turkish team and invited them to Mecca and Medina. “I trust the Turks. We had also told other teams that there were people alive under the wreckage. But some did not launch a search,” he told the Turkish team. The rescued woman was hospitalized and is reportedly in good condition.
The Turkish team, together with its American counterparts, also rescued two more people early on Sunday.
The Turkish team’s success also found wide coverage on Haiti’s NBC TV channel, which called the team members heroes. Interviews with members of the Turkish team were also broadcast on CNN. The Haitians dubbed the Turkish team the “dauntless Turks.”
