The operational force of 53 professionals, coordinated by Civil Protection, will depart from Lisbon for Turkey on Wednesday to support search and rescue operations following the earthquake that has already claimed more than 7,200 lives.
According to a note from the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC), the Joint Operational Force, with valencies in search, rescue, protection and relief in collapsed structures, will depart from the military terminal of Figo Maduro after 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, linked to Lisbon airport.
This force is composed of agents from ANEPC, the National Republican Guard, the Sapadores Firefighters Regiment and the National Institute of Medical Emergency and the humanitarian assistance stems from the request for international assistance from the Turkish authorities through the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism .
The Minister of the Interior (MAI), José Luis Carneiro, had already announced today in Coimbra that the sending this force of 53 elements, through which Portugal will leave “to participate in European humanitarian efforts in the field of civil protection and, particularly in the case of Portuguese support, in the context of search and and rescues”.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the same meeting with central region mayors in Coimbra, the chairman of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, Duarte da Costa, explained that “in cooperation with the European Mechanism, the methodologies necessary to bring the force into Turkey, together with other European efforts and other forces European institutions that are currently prepared”.
According to an estimate released today by the World Health Organization, the number of people affected by earthquakes could be as high as 23 million.
Source: DN
