Five of the 36 Greek rescuers who recently returned to Greece from earthquake-struck areas of Turkey shared their experiences with the local press in Athens on Tuesday.
The Greek team were the first foreign team to reach the site of the devastating February 6 earthquakes, which have so far killed 41,000 people in both Turkey and Syria – another region impacted.
“Your neighbour is the first to reach out in a tragedy,” Efthimis Aravanis, of the EKAB emergency service, told local press.
Υποδοχή της
— Χρήστος Στυλιανίδης – Christos Stylianides (@StylianidesEU) February 13, 2023Ελληνικής Αποστολής Έρευνας & Διάσωσης από την #Τουρκία #ΕΜΑΚ #ΕΚΑΒ
Μια συγκινητική στιγμή για όλους μας!
Ένα μεγάλο «Ευχαριστώ» στους ήρωές μας, που όρισαν με την ανθρωπιά τους τι σημαίνει αλληλεγγύη στην πράξη.
Είμαστε Υπερήφανοι!@pyrosvestiki pic.twitter.com/M4HoPfjgcT
Panagiotis Giannopoulos, coordinator of the team’s EMAK fire service rescuers, added that the locals were hospitable and always brought them tea or bread during “breaks in the operations.”
Despite this, the five men said “the unspeakable pain is something we will always carry with us.”
So far, Greece has sent rescue teams and five planes of humanitarian aid to Turkey to support victims following the earthquake.
READ MORE: Turkey’s Foreign Minister praises Greek-Turkish relations after earthquake.
