Turkey Earthquake: India to send rescue, medical teams to Ankara

India on Monday said that it will despatch rescue and medical teams to Turkey following a 78 magnitude earthquake that killed over 500 people and toppled buildings in central Turkey and northwest Syria todayThe prime ministers office PMO said that a meeting was held and it was decided that the search and rescue teams of NDRF and medical teams along with relief materials would be dispatched immediately in coordination with the Government of the Republic of TurkiyeTwo teams of the National Disaster Relief Force NDRF comprising 100 personnel with specially trained dog squads and necessary equipment are ready to be flown to the earthquakehit area for search and rescue operations the PMO said in a statementMedical teams are also being readied with trained doctors and paramedics with essential medicines Relief material will be dispatched in coordination with the Turkish government and the Indian Embassy in Ankara and Consulate General office in Istanbul the PMO saidP K Mishra Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister held a meeting in South Block to discuss immediate relief measuresMedical teams are also being readied with trained doctors and paramedics with essential medicines Relief material will be dispatched in coordination with the Government of Turkey and the Indian Embassy in Ankara and the Consulate General office in IstanbulThe meeting was attended by the Cabinet Secretary representatives of the Ministries of Home Affairs National Disaster Management Authority NDMA NDRF Defence forces the external affairs ministry MEA and well as the ministries of Civil Aviation MoCA and the Health and Family Welfare MoHFWAlso Read A timeline of major deadly earthquakes in the last two decadesThe epicenter of the earthquake was near the city of Gaziantep in southcentral TurkeyEarlier Turkeys Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced a Level 4 alert which includes a call for international aidAs per the latest estimates in Syria at least 237 people were killed and 639 injured Syrian staterun news agency SANA reported citing a Health Ministry officialOne of the largest earthquakes to hit Turkey in more than a century caused vibrations throughout the area caused buildings to collapse and forced people to flee into the streetsThe United States Geological Survey has recorded 24 aftershocks in Turkey Effects of the earthquake was felt in Syria Lebanon Cyprus Greece Jordan Iraq and as far away as Romania Georgia and Egypt according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre as cited by the Times of IsraelCondolences poured in from worldwide after reports of the massive quake hit Turkey claiming numerous lives Earlier in the day Prime Minister Modi took to Twitter and condoled the loss of life in Turkey and the nearby areasThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever