SINGAPORE: An advance team of 20 Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers has arrived in southern Türkiye on Wednesday (Feb 8) to help with rescue efforts following a deadly earthquake.
“The Operation Lionheart advance team arrived in İstanbul earlier today and are now in Adana, a city in Southern Türkiye,” SCDF said in a Facebook post.
“From Adana, the team will be deployed to the affected areas to commence search and rescue operations,” it added.
The advance team comprises of officers from the elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART), paramedic specialists and a doctor.
An additional 48 SCDF personnel will also leave for Adana “within the next 24 hours” to help with rescue efforts, said SCDF.
The team is from a contingent known as Operation Lionheart. The on standby round-the-clock contingent, with 79 members, was formed in 1990 and has since been deployed on 19 search and rescue or humanitarian relief assistance missions.
The 68-member contingent will be led by Col Chew Keng Tok.