French search, rescue experts help in Türkiye’s quake-hit southern region

KAHRAMANMARAS, Türkiye

Since Monday when southern Türkiye was hit by back-to-back earthquakes, numerous foreign volunteers have flown into the country to help ongoing search and rescue efforts.

One volunteer is Eric Zipper, part of a highly specialized three-member team from France.

“We arrived in Malatya the day after the earthquakes,” Zipper, 58, told Anadolu.

“In Malatya, we rescued a 26-year-old man, and by using sniffer dogs, we managed to locate an elderly woman who had also survived.”

Zipper is the head of the Corps Mondial De Secours, or the World Relief Corps, an NGO that specializes in volunteer search-and-rescue operations.

Although Zipper plans to stay in the quake-hit southern region until Feb. 19, he expects search and rescue efforts to wrap up before that time.

“We arrived in Kahramanmaras on the evening of Feb. 9, and began working the following morning,” said Zipper, who usually works as an editor in crisis management.

“So far, unfortunately, we’ve found only dead bodies here,” he said.

“But now we have two sniffer dogs, and we’re hoping to be more effective.”

Zipper described the quakes, which measured 7.7 and 7.6 on the Richter scale, as “extremely violent.” In many cases, he said, “buildings were literally reduced to dust.”

Along with his two French colleagues, Zipper took time from his everyday job to help with rescue efforts.

Zipper also participated in rescue efforts following a devastating 2010 quake in Haiti, which killed an estimated 220,000.

“In Haiti, the enemy was the hot weather,” he said. “Here, it’s the cold.”

“What’s more, in Haiti, there was only one earthquake, not two,” he said.

“And in Haiti, there are mostly small, one- or two-story houses,” he said. “In Türkiye, by contrast, there are many multi-story buildings that collapsed.”

Nevertheless, Zipper described the post-quake situations in both countries as “very difficult.”

“In both cases, people lost loved ones; people experienced enormous suffering,” he said. “All natural disasters –​​​​​​​ wherever they happen – are tragedies.”

Asked why he volunteered in Türkiye, he said: “I love people all over the world. We are all one. I feel obliged to help people in need – whatever country they live in.”

At least 24,617 people were killed and more than 80,000 injured by two powerful earthquakes that rocked southern Türkiye on Monday, according to the latest figures.

The earthquakes hit Kahramanmaras and nine other provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.

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

According to Syrian sources, more than 3,000 people were killed in the northern provinces of Idlib, Lattakia, Aleppo, Hama, and Raqqa.

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