Mexico City, Mexico — Mexico has sent more of its people to help in a time of crisis, this time in Turkey. On Wednesday, more than 100 Mexicans and 16 dogs left for Turkey to help in a search and rescue mission.
According to Marcelo Ebrard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is the second time this week Mexico has sent people to another country to help in a time of crisis.
“In the case of Chile, they are facing large-scale fires, human lives, homes and thousands of hectares have been lost. For this reason, Mexico’s support has been welcomed,” he said.
Early Wednesday morning, another brigade set out, this time for Turkey. “At 5:45 a.m. Wednesday, a Mexican Air Force flight landed in Adana, a city located 240 kilometers from the epicenter of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake registered Monday,” said Ebrard.
They were met by the Mexican Ambassador to Turkey, José Luis Martínez. The Mexican team is made up of 93 people and 10 dogs from the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), 37 people and two dogs from the Navy, 15 specialists and four dogs from the Mexican Red Cross, as well as five workers from the SRE, he explained.
“The heart of the team is the canine pairings,” said Ebrard, while explaining that the 16 dogs sent are specially trained to locate people.
As of Thursday, the death toll from Monday’s powerful Turkey-Syria earthquakes neared 17,000.
