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The hero sniffer dogs that helped find an 80-year-old woman who survived under rubble for over eight days in Turkey were under the leadership of an Eastern Cape Brigadier.
Brigadier Vimla Moodley who hails from the SAPS provincial head office in eQonce is in charge of the national team K9 search and rescue team that is volunteering for the Gift of the Givers in earthquake-torn Turkey.
The combined official death toll, after the earthquake with a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck various villages and cities in both Turkey and Syria last Monday, now stands at more than 37 000 and is predicted to rise further as hopes of finding many more survivors fade.
Moodley works as the Eastern Cape provincial head of police emergency services and flash services.
Speaking to Algoa FM News on Tuesday, she said nothing could have prepared the team of five sniffer dogs and five handlers (pictured below) for the amount of devastation that they have witnessed.
She says the situation in the town is dire and extremely sad and there is destruction everywhere.
“Buildings are continuing to fall and with the current tremors, it’s expected that they are going to continue to fall.
She likened the destruction to that of a post-apocalyptic movie.
“People have lost hope, in some instances you find them sitting outside of what used to be their homes unable to leave their families behind.
She says when the victims see the K9s they get a glimmer of hope.
“But it’s dangerous work, we cannot merely just get into the buildings without it being safe enough for the handlers and the dogs.”
She says the annual training and certifications for the dogs have paid off.
She says the K9s are confident in the cold and dangerous environment because they have been trained in similar environments which is why Donna could find the elderly lady alive yesterday [Monday].
Describing the situation she says Donna with Handler Warrant Officer Gouws found the elderly woman and Handler Warrant Officer Bann with Optimus, confirmed the find.
“It’s a miracle that the dogs found that woman after so many days, under the building reinforcement,” she added.
She says the team has found more than 25 positive identifications of earthquake victims in the rubble.
The team will depart Turkey on Wednesday.
WATCH the South African Police Service sniffer dogs on a rescue mission with Gift of the Givers in earthquake-ravaged Turkey here.
