The Singapore Civil Defence Force will be sending a 20-man team of elite disaster relief personnel to Turkey, responding to Turkey’s request for Humanitarian assistance following a massive earthquake on 6 February that killed 4,850 people (the death toll is still climbing).
SCDF’s statement
[SCDF’s Operation Lionheart Deployment to Türkiye]
In response to the request for humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of a massive earthquake in Türkiye, SCDF will be sending an Operation Lionheart (OLH) contingent to assist in the disaster rescue efforts.
An advance team of 20 SCDF personnel comprising officers from the elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART), paramedic specialists and a doctor is scheduled to be deployed within the next 24 hours.
SCDF will provide further updates on the deployment once available.
SCDF’s update
[Update 1: SCDF Operation Lionheart Mission to Türkiye]
An advance team of 20 SCDF officers from the Operation Lionheart (OLH) contingent will be departing for Adana, Türkiye at 2:05 a.m. today (8 Feb), to assist in the disaster rescue efforts in the aftermath of the Türkiye-Syria earthquake.
Led by LTC Lok Wee Keong, commander of SCDF’s elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART), the advance team comprises 14 DART rescuers, four paramedic specialists and a Full-time National Serviceman (NSF) doctor.
The team was at HQ SCDF yesterday morning to begin their pre-departure briefing and preparation. They are carrying a slew of portable Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) equipment such as cutting/breaking/lifting equipment, life detection devices and fibre-optic scopes, and this will allow the team to be quickly deployed to affected areas for USAR operations.
Yesterday evening, His Excellency Mehmet Burçin Gönenli, Turkish Ambassador to Singapore, visited SCDF Headquarters and met up with the OLH contingent to express his gratitude and appreciation to the team.
Prior to the team’s departure, Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State (MOS) for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of National Development, and COMR Eric Yap, Commissioner SCDF, were at the airport to send the team off.
We would like to thank Singapore Airlines for facilitating the flight arrangements on short notice.
We wish our OLH contingent a safe and successful mission.
Images source: SCDF Facebook and @omerstappen on Twitter.