André Cabrita and Cláudio Marujo are part of the Volunteer Fire Department of Albufeira and left this Tuesday, February 7th, for Turkey, where they will help in the search and detection of people buried, but alive, after the great earthquake that shook this country and neighboring Syria.
The two professionals will be the first Portuguese to go to Turkey, as part of humanitarian aid, and left this morning for Lisbon, where they will catch a flight to Istanbul.
From there, André and Cláudio will leave for Adana, a city in the south of that country where they will only arrive tomorrow, the 8th, and which is close to the epicenter of the earthquake (7,8 on the Ritcher scale) and its aftershocks.
In their company, they take Axe, a two-year-old Belgian shepherd dog, who will help in the search and rescue of people.
Ao Sul Informação, Abel Zua, commander of the Albufeira Fire Department, explained that this Algarve corporation is «an international training center for the Arcón method», for detecting people buried alive, with the help of dogs, and hence the participation in this mission.
The two Algarve firefighters will join six other Spanish operatives and three dogs, from "a special canine rescue group from Malaga with whom we have work experience", explained Abel Zua.
The request for help came from the Turkish Embassy.
«Following the earthquake, we started monitoring and this group showed its availability to help the Turkish Embassy. They accepted and now they have asked for our help», said the commander of the Albufeira Fire Department.
The two professionals will stay in Turkey until Saturday, February 11th.
According to the most recent balance, at least 5.151 people died due to the violent earthquakes that were felt in Turkey and Syria, but the World Health Organization estimates that the number of deaths could exceed 20.
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