Damascus-SANA
“Seven days I did not know how to sleep.. Our concern was to find people alive under the rubble.. Feelings in which sadness and exhaustion mixed with joy and hope.. What happened there was like a miracle.”
Some of the words that summarize many meanings were spoken to SANA by a number of members of the Arab rescue teams that came to Syria immediately after it was exposed to the devastating earthquake that struck several provinces there, on the sixth of February.
Ali Safi Al-Din, from the Lebanese Civil Defense, says: “I was participating in the search operations in the city of Jableh, Lattakia, for seven days during which I did not know sleep..I was close to collapsing due to the severity of fatigue and harsh scenes, but the moment Ibrahim Zakaria and his mother were found alive gave me hope again.” and energy,” describing those moments as a “miracle” in which moments of fatigue and sadness mixed with joy and hope.
Touching moments passed by the rescuers during the search operations. Ali’s voice, hidden behind the tears, tries to translate some of them, asking: “Is there anything worse than the scene of a family whose members all died while they embraced each other under the rubble?”
Ali concludes: “Syria and Lebanon are one people throughout history and ages, and our rush and presence here was a natural case to save our brothers..Syria is always strong and will not collapse.”
Subhi Saqlawi, another rescuer from Lebanon, talks about the moment they headed to Syria.. “Hours after the earthquake occurred, we headed to the city of Jableh, and all we know is that we are going to a disaster and we have a difficult task ahead of us. We did not have enough time to anticipate what awaits us. The first five days were difficult Very, in which our efforts focused on searches within 72 hours, which is the best time to find people alive.
He added, “We were working with the Syrian Civil Defense members as one team, and within the available capabilities.. What eased the difficulty of the task was the welcome of the people of the city. Despite the difficulties and the economic situation that the whole country is suffering from, they were insisting on hosting us with invitations full of love and generosity.”
Subhi ends his speech by saying: “Syria has stood by our side a lot, and today we return the favor.”
And from the Tunisia Rescue Team, Larbi Atmouli says: “We came to Syria carrying feelings of love from the entire Tunisian people.. Our exit from Tunisia was quick because of the horror of the situation and the difficulty of what the Syrian people were subjected to. So we went on the same day and established a center in Aleppo near the Algerian mission.” Pointing out that the support of the Syrian Arab Army and the Syrian Red Crescent helped a lot in carrying out the tasks.
He added, “We came looking forward to help and extend a helping hand under any circumstances, as the element of speed is essential in the search to rescue and evacuate the largest number of people.”
At the end of his speech, Al-Arabi says: “The Syrian people will rebuild their homeland, as there is no future except with its children.. May God relieve the anguish of Syria, which we love so much.”
As for Siham Ben Ali, head of the Tunisian Red Crescent delegation, she refers to the feelings of sadness that afflicted the Tunisians after the news of the earthquake that hit Syria, and she says: “We were all thinking about the principle of the call of duty to help our brothers in Syria. Preparation and preparation, which did not exceed 12 hours, we were a team of 38 people, twenty of which were Civil Protection-Civil Defense, 10 representatives of the Ministry of Health and 8 from the Tunisian Red Crescent, and the plane was loaded with aid.”
And she added, “We were present alongside our Syrian brothers as one team, and we received all the facilities, support and cooperation that facilitated our work at that stage.”
Many of the painful scenes that she faced during the search and rescue operations in Aleppo were imprinted in Siham's memory, including the scene of a sheikh who lost his entire family, but he did not stop praising and praising him. He continued to accompany them and encourage them to search to find other survivors.
And she continues, “Despite the painful scenes and moments that we went through during our days of work, I do not forget when we left the scene of children playing in one of the shelters, and their voices and laughter filled the place, which gave me hope that life does not end on this good land.”
Siham expresses admiration for the gratitude and welcome that the Syrians offered them, despite the difficult moments and circumstances they are going through.
And from the Emirates, the leader of the rescue team, Lieutenant Colonel Hamad Muhammad Al-Kaabi, talks about their arrival in Damascus in the early days of the earthquake, with tools and mechanisms for this operation, and heading to Latakia, specifically the city of Jableh, and starting search and rescue, in a case he described as a race against time to save the largest possible number.
Hamad considered that the joint coordination and cooperation between the search and rescue team and the local authorities, and the continued flow of information from government agencies, enabled the search and rescue teams to shorten the time to extract those trapped under the rubble, indicating that the cooperation of the people of the region was a key element in the success of the search and rescue operations.
And he concludes: “What we gave to our Syrian brothers is the brother’s support for his brother in this disaster, and we pray to God to protect Syria and its people from all harm.”
Maha al-Atrash
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