Bangladesh to send rescue team to Turkey following deadly quake

Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan has said following the deadly earthquake in Turkey, the Bangladesh government offered help and is planning to send search and rescue teams on Wednesday.

The envoy revealed the information to Dhaka Tribune on Tuesday morning.

Following the deadly earthquake, governments around the world were quick to respond to requests for international assistance in Turkey and Syria, deploying rescue teams and offering aid.

Now, Bangladesh is also set to join the list,  State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam told Dhaka Tribune.

He said that a medical team is expected to reach Turkey on Wednesday.

The 10-member team will include five members of the Bangladesh Army and Fire Service and Civil Defence. 

The team is expected to go to Turkey on an aircraft (C-130) of the Bangladesh Air Force. 

It is still being decided who will be on this team, and what equipment and medical supplies will be sent with them. 

On Monday, President M Abdul Hamid offered all possible assistance from the government and people of Bangladesh, saying: “Bangladesh Government and its people are always by the side of the disaster victims of Turkey and Syria.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also expressed deep shock at the casualties of people and said that the government and people of Bangladesh are standing by the side of Turkey and Syria during this crisis.

Sheikh Hasina also assured all kinds of cooperation on behalf of her government and wished for the quick recovery of the injured.

Rescuers in Turkey and Syria dug with their bare hands through the freezing night Tuesday hunting for survivors among the rubble of thousands of buildings felled in a series of violent earthquakes.

The confirmed death toll across the two countries has soared above 4,300 after a swarm of strong tremors near the Turkey-Syria border -- the largest of which measured at a massive 7.8-magnitude.

Turkish and Syrian disaster response teams report more than 5,600 buildings have been flattened across several cities, including many multi-storey apartment blocks that were filled with sleeping residents when the first quake struck.