‘We just did our best to save lives’: Hong Kong rescue team recalls obstacles, lessons learned in Turkey quake mission
- Plummeting temperatures and downed infrastructure among challenges faced in nine-day mission, team commander Yiu Men-yeung says
- Group of 59 sent by city learned valuable lessons during nine-day mission, including how to bolster coordination and intelligence gathering, he says
Freezing weather, crippled infrastructure and loss of communication signals were just some of the harsh realities faced by a 59-member Hong Kong rescue team in quake-stricken Turkey during a nine-day operation.
The team returned to the city late Friday night, wrapping up their life-saving mission where they pulled four survivors from the ruins.
Team commander Yiu Men-yeung, deputy chief fire officer of the Fire Services Department, recounted the various challenges faced during his first international rescue mission.
“Firstly, the infrastructure there was badly damaged. The signals for communication were also unstable,” he said. “Coupled with the risks of tremors, our rescue mission was particularly dangerous.”
The cold at night was another challenge faced by the team members, who had to camp outdoors in the southern Turkish province of Hatay, where temperatures drop below 0 degree Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) in the evening.
