71 soldiers and men from an aid contingent of the federal army returned on Thursday from the disaster operation after the earthquake in Turkey. The troops of the Austrian Forces Disaster Relief Unit (AFDRU) landed at Vienna-Schwechat Airport in the afternoon and were received, among others, by Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP) and Turkish Ambassador Ozan Ceyhun. It’s time to say thank you, Tanner stressed in a speech at the airport.
The disaster relief workers landed on the runway in Schwechat around 4:30 p.m. with an Austrian Airlines plane. There Tanner, Ceyhun and Chief of Staff Rudolf Striedinger welcomed the AFDRU contingent. The relief force, made up of members of the military, mountain rescue services and fire brigades, has “done great things in Turkey and given people hope,” Tanner said in her speech. She referred to nine rescued people and treated 52 injured.
A Turkish-born AUA flight attendant, visibly moved, thanked her for the strong support:
The stakes are also psychologically very heavy
In the coming days, the army equipment, which weighs about 25 tons, must be returned to Vienna, operations manager Major Bernhard Lindenberg said. The remaining twelve members of the team should also follow in the coming days, it said. “The magnitude of the destruction was enormous,” says Lindenberg. “But such a mission is always an emotional burden,” added Captain Raphael Schuh, deputy contingent commander. On the spot, he and the entire team experienced up close how great the grief is among the population, says Schuh.
Nevertheless, there was also a lot of gratitude in the disaster area, reports Lukas Gruber of the Upper Austrian fire brigade in Traun, who was on duty with a rescue dog. “Food donations were brought to us even though many of the people there had nothing left of their own,” says Gruber.
Gratitude is very great
Numerous members of the Turkish community then welcomed the AFDRU contingent in the arrival hall of the airport. There the helpers entered to frantic applause and accompanied by “Austrian” chants. “Help came very quickly,” said Ceyhan, presenting a gift to each member of the team.
Last Tuesday, a total of 83 people were sent to the disaster area. So far, more than 42,000 deaths have been reported in Turkey and neighboring Syria. The Turkish disaster agency AFAD reported on Thursday that 36,187 people died from the quakes. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported 5,900 deaths in Syria. There have been more than 4,300 aftershocks to date, according to AFAD.
Source: Krone
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