Julie, Romio, Honey, Rambo: Meet dog squad from India helping rescue operations in quake-hit Turkey

A four-member dog squad, comprising Julie, Romio, Honey and Rambo, is part of rescue operations in earthquake-hit Turkey with their 101-member male National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) colleagues.

This Labrador breed dog squad is specially trained and are expert in sniffing and other critical skills required during rescue operations in disaster-hit regions. On Tuesday, the squad left from India for Turkey with two separate NDRF teams; a 51-member team arrived in Turkey in the morning, and another 51-membered team arrived by the evening.

This dog squad is working along with the NDRF teams in the search and rescue operations in the affected regions of Turkey after the massive earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday.

NDRF Director General Atul Karwal told ANI that the dog squad of the force and the 101 team members are self-contained in all respect and are equipped with all the necessary state-of-the-art search and rescue and personal safety equipment.

Karwal added further that the NDRF team would help the local authorities of Turkey in relief and rescue operations as much as they needed.

As per the directions given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two teams comprising NDRF personnel along with a specially trained dog squad and all necessary supplies were sent through special Indian Air Force flights. This Team of NDRF was led by Commandant Gurminder Singh, along with doctors and paramedics.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the Government of India is committed to providing all necessary assistance in this crisis to the Government of Turkey to cope with the crises caused by the earthquake.

Turkey's Earthquake rescue operation is the fourth international disaster NDRF is helping with after the Nepal earthquake in 2015.

After a massive earthquake of 7.8 magnitudes shook Turkey and Syria on 6th February, over 5,000 people lost their lives.

(With Agency Inputs)

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