Madrid (EFE).- Spain will send urban search and rescue teams to Turkey and Syria after the strong earthquake registered last morning in the southeast of Turkey.
Civil Protection and Emergencies of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior has requested the urgent activation of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) and the Immediate Response Team of the Community of Madrid in aid of Turkey and several affected countries in the area.
In parallel, steps are being taken to have air transport available as soon as possible to be able to deploy these units on the ground, according to Civil Protection.
Civil Protection has called an emergency meeting with the Ministry of Defence, the Department of National Security and the Community of Madrid to coordinate this immediate dispatch to Turkey of search and rescue teams in urban areas.
The meeting will be attended by representatives of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, of the Military Emergency Unit.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, in a message on social networks, this morning expressed his solidarity with Turkey and Syria “in the face of one of the biggest earthquakes in their history.”
Sánchez has indicated that, in response to the request of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, the Ministry of the Interior has activated the Military Emergency Unit (UME) and urgent air transport to support search tasks.
For her part, the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has announced that the regional government has offered the European Civil Protection Mechanism and the Spanish Ministry of the Interior the Emergency and Immediate Response team (Ericam) to help in the rescue and salvage of earthquake victims.
In a Twitter message, Ayuso this morning expressed his “concern over the devastating earthquake” that occurred in the early hours of this Monday.
In turn, the Catalan Minister for Foreign Action, Meritxell Serret, has announced that, “if necessary and by consensus”, the Generalitat of Catalonia is in a position to offer “all humanitarian aid” to Turkey and countries affected by the earthquake.