Several rescue teams have gone from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to Turkey to help find victims who are under the ruins, created after the devastating earthquakes on Monday, February 6th.
In an interview, Dzenan Bubalo (25), a member of the Mountain Service (GSS) from Konjic and the Prenj Rescue Service, points out that regardless of experience, this situation is apocalyptic and there is no way to be prepared.
”We are glad that we were able to help, we pulled out several dead bodies. Until now, unfortunately, we have not had the opportunity to save someone’s life,” Bubalo points out.
As he says, one situation in particular shook the whole place, as well as the rescue teams themselves, to the extent that they all started crying.
”The mother tried to save the child, but failed. She protected him with her hands, but both died due to the collapse. It’s very difficult to help in such a situation, because you can’t just lift a concrete slab, everything goes slowly and you have to wait a long time,” told Bubalo.
City completely shut down
Namely, Dzenan as well as the Rescue Team from Konjic are located in the town of Adiyaman, which is about 30 kilometers from the epicenter itself.
”It is still difficult to organize, because road communication is very interrupted. It is difficult to establish connections, and in most cases people come by helicopter, which makes work quite difficult,” said Bubalo.
He also adds that the city is shut down, and that everyone is on the streets waiting.
”It seems as if people are waiting for their family members to be found, regardless of the outcome,” he points out.
Willingness to help
As he says, there is no fear, and no time to think about everything they see and experience while trying to find anything under the ruins.
”You pray to God that when you lift the stone just co you could find someone alive. The readiness of all of us in the team, and there are 14 of us from Konjic, is shown by the fact that we came here regardless of everything. Among us is a guy who risked his job and came to Turkey at the cost of his dismissal to help this nation,” concluded Bubalo at the end, Avaz reports.
Spasioci iz Konjica u Turskoj pic.twitter.com/MJvm4u7CIi
— Dnevni avaz (@DnevniAvaz) February 12, 2023
E.Dz.
