Earthquake relief Turkey and Syria

Immediately after the catastrophe occurred, Max-Brose-Hilfe reacted and transferred 10,000 euros in emergency aid the very next day. The money was used to support the work of I.S.A.R. (international search and rescue), which provided tangible help on site with volunteers and rescue dogs.

From the organisation’s report:
The German relief organisations I.S.A.R. Germany and BRH Bundesverband Rettungshunde are ending their rescue mission in the Turkish earthquake region. “Behind our team lies the most extensive foreign mission in the history of the organisations so far,” said BRH President Jürgen Schart. “The team has done a great job. Every single person has worked in the last few days, sometimes to the brink of exhaustion, to save people. This voluntary commitment simply cannot be appreciated enough,” said I.S.A.R. Managing Director Michael Lesmeister. The Max-Brose-Hilfe e.V. supported the rescue mission with 10,000 €.

The team was deployed in Kirikhan in Hatay province with 42 rescue workers and seven dogs. Since the beginning of the quake, it had rescued four people alive from the rubble in the town. The rescue of 40-year-old Zeynep from a collapsed building attracted particular attention. The woman had been rescued from the rubble more than 100 hours after the earthquake. The rescue work had taken about 50 hours due to the difficult situation of the trapped people. Unfortunately, Zeynep had died in hospital the following night. This had caused great consternation among the Turkish and German public as well as the rescue team. “This example shows the tragedy of this disaster,” explained Head of Operations Dr Steven Bayer. “Thousands of people have lost their lives, countless people their loved ones and small glimmers of hope are often destroyed in the end. But we are glad that we were able to help the people in Turkey during this difficult time.”

Both organisations announced that they will continue their commitment to the people in the earthquake region. “We will now check with which projects we can help very quickly and sustainably. We will not forget the people in the disaster area!” said Lesmeister and Schart.