The search and rescue team dispatched by Taiwan’s government to Turkey, to help rescue possible survivors after a deadly earthquake devastated the southeastern part of the country and neighboring Syria, is scheduled to return home on Feb. 15, Interior Minister Lin Yu-chang (???) said Saturday.

With the hope of finding survivors waning after more than 120 hours since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, the Turkish government has begun to send heavy equipment into the worst-hit areas, which makes further rescue efforts unlikely, Lin said in a press statement.

After careful consideration the Taiwan Search & Rescue Team has decided to wrap up its mission and return home, Lin added.

The rescue workers from Taiwan will start to withdraw from quake affected areas in the Turkish province of Adiyaman on Sunday morning, local time, and arrive in Istanbul on the night of Feb. 14 before boarding an EVA Air charter flight home.

The rescue team is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan at around 3 p.m. Feb. 15, he said.

Shortly after the earthquake hit Turkey and Syria early Monday, Taiwan sent a 130-strong rescue team and five search dogs to join international efforts to find survivors in Adiyaman.

The Taiwanese team reported to the United Nations Reception/Departure Center (UNRDC) and set up a regional disaster response coordination center (SCC1, sector coordination cell 1).

However, the Turkish authorities have taken over SCC1, and the situation in quake-hit areas has deteriorated, making it hard for rescue work to proceed, Lin said.

Despite the decision to withdraw, the efforts of the Taiwanese team have been recognized internationally and helped Taipei forge closer friendship with Ankara, Lin said.

More than 23,000 fatalities have been confirmed as of late Friday evening since the earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, according to authorities.

About 89 hours after the quake occurred, members of the Taiwanese rescue team pulled a 35-year-old woman from a collapsed residential building in Adiyaman on Thursday.

The woman was the second person to be rescued by the team.

It rescued another woman from a collapsed building in Adiyaman on Wednesday night, but she died shortly afterwards at a local hospital.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel