Avalanche Engulfs Search, Rescue Teams in Van
* Photos: Anadolu Agency
Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish
Van Governor and state-appointed Metropolitan Mayor Mehmet Emin Bilmez has announced that an avalanche has engulfed the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), National Medical Rescue (UMKE) and other search and rescue teams looking for two missing persons in Van.
As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Governor Bilmez has indicated that there might be still others trapped under the snow and announced that eight gendarmerie officers, three village guards, three fire brigade officers and nine civilians have lost their lives.
In a statement released by the AFAD later in the day, it has been announced that 33 people in total have lost their lives and 53 people have been wounded in the second avalanche as of 5.21 p.m. today.
38 people have lost their lives in total
Earlier today, it was announced that after an avalanche stroke a minibus with passengers on board and a construction equipment ploughing snow yesterday evening, five people have lost their lives.
As the second avalanche has claimed the lives of 33 other people including nine civilians, the total death toll has reached 38.
Hit by the second avalanche, AFAD Van Provincial Director Osman Uçar, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Principal Consultant and former Van MP Gülşen Orhan and HDP's former Bahçesaray Co-Mayor Galip Yakut have been rescued and referred to hospital.
Statement by the Ministry of Interior
Releasing a statement about the second avalanche that hit Van's district of Bahçesaray, the Ministry of Interior has indicated that while the search and rescue operations for the two missing people after the first avalanche were still continuing, another avalanche stroke the same spot.
According to the Ministry's statement, while the search and rescue teams could reach 30 people after the incident, the operations to find and rescue the ones engulfed by the second avalanche still continue. Additional search and rescue teams have been referred to the region from the provinces of Van, Hakkari, Şırnak, Bitlis, Siirt, Erzurum and Ankara.
Equipment, personnel sent by the Ministry
In a statement released by the Ministry of National Defense, it has been announced that a plane owned by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), a 75-people AFAD team, gendarmerie personnel and the necessary equipment are to be sent from Ankara to Van.
Five people previously lost their lives
An avalanche also struck a construction equipment and a minibus in Bahçesaray in Turkey's eastern province of Van yesterday (February 4).
CLICK - 5 People Lose Their Lives in Avalanche in Van
The construction equipment was ploughing snow near Karabet Mountain Pass at an altitude of 3 thousand meters. Several passengers were trapped under snow as a result of the avalanche.
Van Governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez, who has also been appointed as a trustee to Van Metropolitan Municipality, announced that five people had lost their lives in the incident and seven people had been rescued, including the driver of the construction equipment.
There might be two more people still trapped under snow, Bilmez indicated further. So, the search and rescue operations continued. (TP/SD)
