Two Indonesian Citizens Still Missing 10 Days After Turkey Quake
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17 February 2023 22:45 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, and the Charlie team of the Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Team continue to search for two Indonesian citizens who are still missing 10 days after the Turkey-Syria earthquake.
"We decided to bring Charlie Team with 14 Basarnas personnel to join another SAR team operating in Diyarbakir to get certainty about the condition of the 2 Indonesian citizens who have not been contacted so far," said Foreign Ministry Director for the Protection of Citizens and Legal Entities Overseas Judha Nugraha in a written statement.
The Indonesian team left for Diyarbakir, which is 550 kilometers from Hatay and takes eight hours to travel by road. In their search, they were assisted by sniffer dogs.
As of today, Judha Nugraha has not yet responded to Tempo’s request for information about yesterday’s search.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 hit Turkey on Monday, 6 February 2023. Two other powerful quakes followed shortly after that. Official data said the number of victims of the quake, which took place on the Turkey and Syrian border, was recorded at more than 40,000.
The two missing citizens reportedly worked as spa therapists and resided in the Galleria Apartment which was one of the high buildings that collapsed due to the earthquake.
The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister said there were around 500 Indonesian nationals living in the quake-hit areas. The government had evacuated more than 123 Indonesian citizens in Turkey and brought them to Ankara.
An Indonesian citizen from Bali who married a Turkish citizen was found dead with their baby. The Indonesian government has thus far sent humanitarian aid and a medical team to Turkey in two batches.
DANIEL A. FAJRI
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