HATAY, TURKIYE — Two days after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook Turkiye and Syria, the Indonesian Ambassador to Turkiye, Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, said that two Indonesian citizens (WNI) had lost contact. The two Indonesian citizens are spa therapist workers in Diyarbakir, Turkiye.
As of Thursday (16/2/2023), the two Indonesian citizens are still unknown, because they still cannot be contacted. For this reason, the Indonesian Citizen Protection Team of the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara and the Charlie Basarnas Team left for Diyarbakir on Thursday morning at around 10.00 AM local time to find the whereabouts of the two Indonesian citizens.
“The Protection Team of the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara and Charlie Basarnas Team departed for Diyarbakir Province, about 550 km from Hatay Province (16/2). The journey from Hatay to Diyarbakir will take about 8 hours by road,” said Iqbal Muhamad Lalu in his written statement (keterangan tertulisnya).
In Diyarbakir, the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara Team will conduct direct search efforts for two Indonesian citizens who until now still cannot be contacted. This action was taken to strengthen other SAR Teams that had already started the search. In addition to bringing a number of equipment, the Charlie Basarnas Team also brought bloodhounds to find the victims.
The Director of Protection of Indonesian Citizens of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) RI, Judha Nugraha, directly led the search efforts.
“We decided to bring the Charlie Team with 14 Basarnas personnel to join other SAR Teams operating in Diyarbakir, in order to get certainty about the condition of two Indonesian citizens who until now still cannot be contacted,” said Judha Nugraha.
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According to information obtained by the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara from the Indonesian people who are close to the two Indonesian citizens, when the earthquake occurred, the two Indonesian citizens who lost contact were in the Galleria Apartment. Meanwhile, it is known that the Galleria Apartment is one of hundreds of high-rise buildings that have suffered a complete collapse.
Previously, on Thursday (9/2/2023), Lalu Muhamad Iqbal stated that there were two Indonesian citizens in Diyarbakir Province who could not be contacted after the earthquake occurred.
“In Diyarbakir, there are two spa therapist workers who until now we have not been able to contact, even in the WhatsApp group of spa therapist workers in Diyarbakir, they have not responded at all,” explained Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, quoted from CNN Indonesia, Thursday (9/2/2023).
Launching Al-Jazeera, as of Friday (17/2/2023), nearly 44,000 were reported to have died in Turkiye. Meanwhile, in Syria, as many as 5,800 people have been reported dead.
Dompet Dhuafa Good Friends, survivors of the Turkiye-Syria Earthquake still need a helping hand of kindness from all of us. Let’s unite forces and strengthen solidarity in helping our brothers and sisters in Turkiye-Syria. Good Friends can send help and prayers by clicking the link below. It’s Time for the World to Be Empowered to Face Disasters.