A 13-year-old girl rescued in the earthquake-hit Turkey and recovering at an India-run hospital has been photographed smiling with an Indian Army officer.
The photo has gone viral on social media and users have highlighted the spirit of the girl and grit of Indian personnel deployed in Turkey for relief and rescue operations.
Turkey and neighbouring Syria were hit with a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6. The death toll has crossed 35,000, according to latest reports, and the number of injured is over 1 lakh.
Soon after the earthquake hit the region, the Government of India announced a mission to help the country with relief and rescue work. Formally called Operation Dost, New Delhi sent relief material and rescue personnel from the Indian Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to Turkey. The Indian Army has established a field hospital where those being rescued are being treated.
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The photo of the 13-year-old was also taken at the Indian Army's 60 Para Field Hospital at Iskenderun in Turkey. It was originally shared by journalist Manish Prasad.
Sharing the photo on Twitter, Prasad wrote, "Meet two brave daughters of two nations - 13-year-old girl who was came out from debris after 72 hours. She lost three members in family and Major Beena Tiwari of 60 Para Field Hospita, Iskenderun, Turkey."
Earlier, the video of Indian personnel rescuing a six-year-old girl from a rubble also surfaced on the internet.
The Indian personnel in Turkey have been received well. Earlier, a photo of a woman kissing the Indian woman officer was also shared by the Indian Army on Twitter. The woman officer has been identifed as Major Beena Tiwari of the Army Medical Corps (AMC).
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Tiwari is a third-generation Indian Army soldier as her father and grandfather both served as junior commissioned officers (JCOs), reported The Times of India.
The ToI reported, "Tiwari is part of the 99-member medical team which left for Turkiye on February 7 to contribute in relief and rescue work under the government of India's "Operation Dost" initiative."
Sharing Tiwari's photo with the girl patient, industrialist Anand Mahindra said, "Major Bina Tiwari with a rescued girl in the hospital opened by the Indian Army in Iskenderun. We have one of the largest armies in the world. They have decades of experience in rescue and peacekeeping operations. This can and should be the global image of India. #TurkeyEarthquake."
Besides deploying rescue personnel, India has also delivered medical equipment to Turkey, including patient monitor, ECG, syringe pumps, and relief material such as gensets, solar lamps, emergency and critical care medicines, and disaster relief consumables.
India had begun deploying personnel and resources soon after the tragedy struck Syria. In a tweet last week, External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said over 140 tons of relief material was sent to Syria in just two days. Besides this, over 250 trained personnel, search and rescue teams with specialised equipment, and a 30-bed field hospital with specialists and medical equipment were also deployed.
