ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish search-and-rescue team GEA returned to Turkey after completing their efforts in Sri Lanka, which was badly affected by the quake triggered tsunami disaster in southern Asia.
Ozgur Bozoglu, the chief of the six-member team of GEA, told reporters at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport that they had joined search-and-rescue efforts in Sri Lanka for five days.
''Later, we were sent to Vavunia region in north of Sria Lanka. This region has been under control of Tamil rebels. Aid teams from countries such as the United States, Britain and Russia were not allowed to enter the region due to political reasons. We did not face any problem in the region. We erected an urgent medical aid tent in the region, and served 700 people in a week,'' Bozoglu added.
More than 150,000 people are reported dead around southern Asia, most killed by massive tidal waves that smashed coastlines around the region after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake in Indonesia on December 26th, followed by reports of a 7.3 magnitude jolt in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean.
(UK-A֩
2005-01-03