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The Minister of the Interior, Lucian Bode, declared on Wednesday that Romania is better prepared to face major emergency situations, such as earthquakes, noting that each county has two containers with equipment and search and rescue crews of 25 people each, with certified RO-USAR specialized personnel, medical teams being prepared for special interventions at any time, told Agerpres.
"Through the European funds accessed by the coordination structures of the Emergency Department (DSU) of almost one billion EUR, which consist in the purchase of various equipment and special intervention vehicles, airplanes, helicopters, but also the involvement in personnel training modules, here is that our country is more prepared in dealing with such major emergency situations," Bode said at the beginning of the Government meeting.
He referred to Romania's support for Turkey following the earthquakes, noting that the rapid mobilization of forces shows "the stability of a national emergency system, a strong one, consolidated over time, with a lot of effort and with a lot of sacrifice".
The minister said that "Romania is the first country in the European Union that arrived in the area heavily affected by the series of earthquakes".
"Thus, in just a few hours, the specialized RO-USAR search and rescue team from the IGSU was mobilized and thus 59 rescuers, representing specialized RO-USAR search and rescue personnel, doctors and assistants, staff with canine teams from utility dogs club, along with two liaison officers from the DSU, set off for Adana, Republic of Turkey," explained Bode.
He showed that this rapid mobilization is also due to the support offered by the Ministry of National Defense, which provided three aircraft for sending rescuers to the Republic of Turkey, as well as specific equipment for intervention in such situations.
The minister also said that the second support team left for Turkey with two Spartan aircraft belonging to the Ministry of National Defense.
He pointed out that the rescue team has already managed to rescue three people from under the rubble so far, noting that the "heavy search and rescue" actions continue.
Bode also said that, at the same time, the possibility of providing support to Syria, a country that has also been hard hit by this disaster, is being analyzed.
"The requests have already come through the European mechanism and are being processed and Romania will be part of this support as well. Romania therefore continues to honor its international commitments. We are by far providers of civil protection at the European level and, as Minister Aurescu mentioned, in addition to the 21 Romanian citizens and two foreign citizens that we brought to Romania, we continue, in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the Turkish authorities, to bring with the aircraft that left with equipment, to bring citizens who are in difficulty today, tomorrow and in the following days," added minister Bode.
