The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) plane that the federal government used to take humanitarian aid to Turkey returned today (12) to Brazil. The aircraft brought on board 17 people who survived the earthquake that hit parts of Turkey and Syria last Monday (6).
Four children are part of the group of nine Brazilians and eight foreigners who disembarked this morning at Galeão Air Force Base, in Rio de Janeiro. The repatriation of Brazilians was coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty), which took advantage of the return flight of the FAB KC-30.
rescue team
Shortly after the strong earthquakes that reached 7.8 on the Richter scale, the Brazilian government called on the Air Force to take a team of Brazilians specialized in urban rescue and aid to victims of natural disasters to Turkey.
The 42 Brazilian professionals, including firefighters, health agents and Civil Defense, arrived in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on the night of last Wednesday (9). They must remain for at least two weeks in the country providing humanitarian support to the population that, in addition to the consequences of the earthquake, is facing a rigorous winter, with temperatures below zero.
despair and rush
According to the FAB, the rescue of the 17 people brought to Brazil had the help of other citizens who remain in Turkey, including Brazilians. Still according to the Air Force, among the nine Brazilians, there is a pregnant woman, identified as Fernanda Lima.
“When I understood that this situation was unusual, I started screaming for my husband and son to wake up. So, I pulled my son out of the crib, gave it to my husband and said: run, this is an earthquake. Save his life! Leave me, go ahead with him! And it was just time for us to leave the house. When we left the house, we saw it collapse. We lost everything”, reported Fernanda to the FAB military.
Professor Guilherme Brito, 22 years old, is also on the list of repatriated Brazilians. Interviewed by a team from TV Brazil who traveled to Ankara at the invitation of the FAB, Brito said that he had just arrived in the city of Adana to participate in a student exchange when he was surprised by the earthquake that, according to Turkish and Syrian government sources, has killed at least 33,000 people.
“I had just arrived. I was very tired, but very happy. I had dinner, went to sleep and, around 4 am, I felt everything trembling”, said Brito. According to the student, shortly after, there was a second tremor, even stronger, which made him run into the street. Brito remembers, when he got to the street, looking and seeing at least three nearby buildings collapsed and many others with serious cracks. In addition, according to him, it was very cold, which may have caused the death of many people trapped in the rubble. According to Brito, the thermometers showed around 3 degrees Celsius (°C), but the thermal sensation was -1°C.
“We started walking through the streets with a Turkish friend, and he warned us not to walk there because there was a risk of demolition, of falling. I ended up deciding not to stay [na Turquia] precisely for that. My idea was to help, but I realized that that area was still at risk, although it wasn’t such an affected area. Fear started to take over”, said Brito about why he decided to ask for help from the diplomatic authorities to leave the country.
