LASD volunteer search and rescue team rescues mom, child from Turkey earthquake rubble
A group of volunteers with the LASD search and rescue team in Turkey helped rescue a mother and her son from the rubble in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that struck the region. (Video via Twitter @Resqman)
HATAY PROVINCE, Turkey – A rescue crew from Los Angeles County has been hard at work in Turkey, helping local teams recover survivors from the wreckage of a powerful earthquake that struck central Turkey last week. On Monday, the crew was able to rescue a teenage boy, uninjured.
More than 35,000 people have died in Turkey and Syria, after a 7.8 magnitude quake and several powerful aftershocks struck the area around central Turkey on Feb. 6. Many others were injured, and the shaking destroyed many buildings in the region.
Mike Leum is part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Reserve Deputies, a group of volunteers helping rescue crews in Turkey. He’s been documenting the rescue process on his Twitter account.
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On Monday, Leum shared an image of crews surrounding a man the team had rescued from the rubble.
“Working with our Turkish partners we rescued a 17-year-old man,” Leum wrote. “Uninjured and talking.”
According to Leum, the man was rescued in the Hatay Province of Turkey, around 5 p.m. Local time.
Monday’s rescue comes just two days after Leum and other rescue teams helped pulled a 52-year-old mother and her 18-year-old son from the rubble, but no information on their condition was given.
In addition to the LASD volunteer crew, the United States Agency for International Development has deployed a crew from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and a crew from Fairfax County, Virginia, to also provide assistance.
This story was reported from Los Angeles.