U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.info.usaid.gov
(202) 712-4320
99-181
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 19, 1999
Contact: USAID Press Office
DUZCE, Turkey -- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today the provision of over $100,000 in equipment for the Devlet Hospital in Duzce, Turkey.
The Devlet Hospital, which suffered structural damage in the November 11th earthquake, is currently treating patients in the hospital courtyard. The USAID donated equipment, used by the USAID/Fairfax Search and Rescue team while in Turkey, includes seven large capacity winterized tents, heaters, generators and lighting equipment. In addition, USAID will provide basic pharmaceuticals and medicines along with 5,000 liters of bottled drinking water for the hospital's use. The donations will allow an additional field hospital to be established adjacent to the Devlet facility.
USAID also announced the redeployment of USAID/Fairfax Search and Rescue personnel from Turkey to Fairfax, Virginia. The USAID team departed through Ankara, Turkey on the morning of Friday, November 19th and will arrive at Dulles Airport the same evening at 8:15 PM. Families will be reunited with Search and Rescue team members at the Fairfax Fire and Rescue Training Academy at 4600 West Ox Road, Fairfax, VA.
The USAID/Fairfax Search and Rescue team was deployed to Duzce, Turkey on Friday, November 12th, six hours after an earthquake of 7.2 on the Richter scale struck the Duzce area. The USAID team arrived on site within 39 hours of the earthquake and was immediately requested to assist a German team with search activities. Sixty-five members of Fairfax Co. Search and Rescue along with four search and rescue dogs worked 24-hour shifts through the morning of November 18th, at which time the team began to prepare for redeployment.
The USAID/Fairfax Search and Rescue team worked jointly with 40 international search and rescue teams to locate and assist earthquake victims trapped in collapsed buildings. To date, the teams have collectively rescued eight survivors. Fairfax was also part of the USAID Search and Rescue team deployed in response to the August 17th earthquake that occurred in Izmit, Turkey. Fairfax members of the USAID team rescued four survivors in the aftermath of that event.
As the search and rescue phase of the earthquake draws to a close, USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team members will continue to monitor and respond to the humanitarian needs of the earthquake victims. According to the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, the Prime Ministry Crisis Center announced on November 18 that 550 people are confirmed dead, 3,313 people are injured, and 750 buildings were destroyed. The United Nations reported that 20,500 people remain homeless in the Duzce area.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is the lead international humanitarian relief and disaster response agency for the United States government.