On the night of Monday, February 6, Türkiye and Syria suffered a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the Richter scale that caused the death of thousands of people. International teams deployed to Türkiye to assist the population, and specially to search for survivors under the rubble.
That same day, UME was activated through the European Civil Protection Mechanism, a voluntary program that allows the response to disasters inside and outside the European Union. The Unit deployed to the affected country with a contingent of 55 personnel: 46 from the USAR team from the 2nd emergency response battalion (BIEM II) and 9 from the advisory and liaison team (UMEDAT) for disaster evaluation.
During the mission, the Unit found survivors and recovered the bodies of those who had died in İslahiye and Nurdağı, both cities located in the province of Gaziantep.
However, the most remarkable moment of this mission was the rescue of Leyla, Elif, and Muslim, a mother and her children, who were trapped for four days and endured a rescue operation that lasted more than 24 hours. They were found one day earlier through technical search using geophones and cutting and drilling work.
The SIER 213 (Emergency and Rescue Intervention Section) first rescued the two-year-old and youngest child, Muslim, and then his five years-old sister, Elif. Finally, they rescued Leyla, the mother, who emerged from the rubble and said to her rescuers: “You are angels without the wings.” Once at the University Hospital of Gaziantep, she extended this recognition to all Spaniards.
This event marked a milestone in the history of UME. Leyla, Elif, and Muslim were the first earthquake survivors that the Unit rescued since its creation.
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Leyla, Elif, Muslim y los "ángeles sin alas": historia de un rescate en Turquía
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