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Romania's first RO-USAR urban search and rescue team that participated in search and rescue missions in Turkey following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake there on February 6 returned to Romania on Wednesday night.
The Romanian rescuers were welcomed by Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, at the 90th Otopeni Air Transport Base, told Agerpres.
"Dear soldiers, dear SMURD doctors, dear representatives of non-governmental organisations, volunteers who participated in this particularly difficult mission, allow me to personally, on behalf of the government of Romania, say a simple thank you for the way you have accomplished your mission. You were the emissaries of Romania; you were the ones who carried with you the compassion, solidarity and empathy of the Romanian people towards the Turkish people who have been tried hard by this tragedy. The way in which you acted, in which you managed to save the lives of four Turkish citizens is that gesture by which, in desperate situations, you managed to restore hope to some hopeless people that they can be saved, thanks to you, who, through devotion, courage, professionalism, honoured Romania and gave proof of maximum humanity. (...) You deserve to rest after the 10 days in which you did everything to save lives," said Ciuca.
Also welcoming the returning rescuers were Interior Minister Lucian Bode; head of the Emergency Management Department (DSU) Raed Arafat, and Chief of Defence Daniel Petrescu. Several representatives of the Turkish community and officials of the Turkish Embassy in Bucharest were also present, waving the flags of Turkey and Romania and applauding the Romanian rescuers upon arrival.
Interior Minister Lucian Bode showed that the first team of rescuers that returned to Romania consists of 55 military firefighters, SMURD doctors and nurses, volunteers of non-governmental organisations. Also, the interior minister said that the other 59 of their colleagues will soon return home.
Two C-27J Spartan transport aircraft of the Romanian Air Force on Wednesday performed an air transport mission on the Hatay, Turkey - Otopeni, Romania route, for the return home of the first RO-USAR team, SMURD doctors and nurses and the search and rescue workers together with their canine team deployed to Turkey on February 6.
