SEPANG: Malaysia is sending the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) to Turkiye to assist search and rescue (SAR) efforts to locate victims of the earthquake in southern Turkiye as a sign of solidarity with those affected by the disaster.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim instructed Wisma Putra and Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali to take immediate action by sending a SAR team to Turkiye following the earthquake that hit 10 regions.
He said the Foreign Ministry together with the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) under the Prime Minister's Department, the Malaysian embassy in Turkiye and the Turkiye embassy in Malaysia would coordinate the operation to ensure everything will run smoothly without complications.
"I reached out to Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to get an idea of the situation there and he voiced their urgent needs, including SAR assistance, followed by aid in the form of medicine and other humanitarian aid," he told the media at the send-off of the SAR mission at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport here last night.
Armizan, SAR mission chief Cmdr Mohd Khairul Jamil and Turkiye ambassador to Malaysia Emir Salim Yuksel, were also present.
Zambry said 12 Malaysians in the affected regions of Gaziantep, Sanliurfa and Adana have contacted the Malaysian embassy in Turkiye and were confirmed to be safe.
Meanwhile, Mohd Khairul there were 70 personnel in the SMART team, including a medical team from the Royal Medical Corps, the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department's K9 Unit and a hazardous chemical materials special team, that department tonight for Istanbul on a Turkish Alirlines flight.
He said the team will report in as soon they arrived in the affecting area and will be mobilised according to the secretariat that is determining the areas for the SAR operations, adding that the team was experienced in SAR operations, and have been involved in 12 operations, including an earthquake that hit Izmit, Turkiye in 1999.
The team was also accredited by the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) in 2016, which enabled the team to be sent to participate in disaster missions abroad.
The earthquake that hit the southern region of Kahramanmaras at 4.17 am local time (0117 GMT) early Monday morning measured 7.4 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre at Pazarcik district. Media reports have indicated that the earthquake has taken at least 912 lives in southern Turkiye, with another 476 deaths recorded in Syria so far.
-- BERNAMA
Bernama
Tue Feb 07 2023
![70 SMART personnel leave for Turkiye to assist in efforts to locate earthquake victims 70 SMART personnel leave for Turkiye to assist in efforts to locate earthquake victims](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2023-02/81675734070_SMART.jpg)
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir (front four, right) poses with some members of the Malaysian Special Search and Rescue Team (SMART) who will depart for Turkey at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) last night. - BERNAMA
![Perang berlarutan antara punca kelewatan penghantaran Black Hawk Perang berlarutan antara punca kelewatan penghantaran Black Hawk](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-04/51712121864_TBADLYZAHARIjp.jpg)
Perang berlarutan antara punca kelewatan penghantaran Black Hawk
Perkara itu dimaklumkan pihak Aerotree Defence and Services Sdn Bhd iaitu syarikat yang dipertanggungjawabkan dalam kontrak perolehan perkhidmatan sewaan helikopter berkenaan.
![Polis kesan remaja lelaki hilang sejak enam hari lepas Polis kesan remaja lelaki hilang sejak enam hari lepas](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/61721115027_MuhammadAdiLagik.jpg)
Polis kesan remaja lelaki hilang sejak enam hari lepas
Polis sedang berusaha mengesan seorang remaja lelaki yang dilaporkan hilang oleh keluarganya di Kuala Pilah sejak enam hari lepas.
[TERKINI] Sidang media khas FAM
FAM adakan satu sidang media khas petang nanti, difahamkan berkaitan rombakan. Kepimpinan tertinggi FAM atau barisan kejurulatihan skuad Harimau Malaya?
![Penampilan pertama Trump di konvensyen GOP selepas terselamat cubaan bunuh Penampilan pertama Trump di konvensyen GOP selepas terselamat cubaan bunuh](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/71721113188_DonaldTrump.jpg)
Penampilan pertama Trump di konvensyen GOP selepas terselamat cubaan bunuh
Donald Trump menghadiri Konvensyen Kebangsaan Republikan pada malam Isnin, penampilan umum pertamanya sejak terselamat daripada cubaan bunuh.
![Malaysia pantau perkembangan insiden tembakan di Masjid Muscat Malaysia pantau perkembangan insiden tembakan di Masjid Muscat](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-05/71715148599_wismaputra.jpg)
Malaysia pantau perkembangan insiden tembakan di Masjid Muscat
Wisma Putra melalui Kedutaan Besar Malaysia di Muscat, Oman sedang giat menyelaras usaha dengan pihak berkuasa tempatan untuk mendapatkan maklumat lanjut.
![Ini antara pencapaian Pan-gon bersama Harimau Malaya Ini antara pencapaian Pan-gon bersama Harimau Malaya](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721112073_PangonHarimauMal.jpg)
Ini antara pencapaian Pan-gon bersama Harimau Malaya
Kim Pan-gon memiliki rekod yang cukup baik bersama Malaysia, menjadi pengendali Harimau Malaya paling banyak mendapatkan keputusan yang positif sejak beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini.
![Kementerian Komunikasi umum Pakej Rahmah Prabayar Siswa Kementerian Komunikasi umum Pakej Rahmah Prabayar Siswa](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721112865_FahmiFadzil.jpg)
Kementerian Komunikasi umum Pakej Rahmah Prabayar Siswa
Kementerian Komunikasi hari ini mengumumkan Pakej Rahmah Prabayar Siswa pada harga tidak melebihi RM30.
![Messi harap cepat pulih daripada kecederaan Messi harap cepat pulih daripada kecederaan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-06/51719647184_LionelMessi.jpg)
Messi harap cepat pulih daripada kecederaan
Kapten Argentina, Lionel Messi berharap agar beliau cepat pulih daripada kecederaan buku lali yang dialaminya perlawanan akhir Copa America.
![MARA diminta terus teroka potensi industri halal global - Ahmad Zahid MARA diminta terus teroka potensi industri halal global - Ahmad Zahid](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/71721105894_AhmadZahidHamidi.jpg)
MARA diminta terus teroka potensi industri halal global - Ahmad Zahid
MARA diminta untuk terus meneroka potensi antarabangsa dalam industri halal yang mempunyai prospek besar menerusi program Gate to Global (GTG).
Saya akan rindu bau durian - Kim Pan-gon
Menurut Kim Pan-gon, beliau akan tetap bangga dengan pasukan bola sepak Malaysia walaupun dimana beliau berada.
Katanya beliau akan merindui bau durian dan langit Malaysia. #AWANInews
Katanya beliau akan merindui bau durian dan langit Malaysia. #AWANInews