India's Romeo and Julie became pathfinders for NDRF teams in Turkey

Romeo and Julie, party to a group of four canines sent to Turkey to partake in rescue operations, were instrumental in their roles. In Gaziantep, the duo alerted rescuers about possible human presence, which led to the rescue of two children, writes ETV Bharat's Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi: India's rescue efforts in Turkey via 'Operation Dost', following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that tore through the country's southeastern parts on February 6, were spearheaded by members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Significantly, apart from men and women, who valiantly aided the lookout for life under the debris of dilapidated buildings, there were others: four-legged members, who indicated signs of life to their human handlers.

Meet six-year-old Romeo and Julie, which helped the team detect two children trapped under the debris at Gaziantep. Those rescued, six-year-old Berem and eight-year-old Miray, were "the only two people we rescued alive in the 10-day-long rescue operation in Turkey" said an official from the rescue team. The team was conducting their search operation on February 9 on street number 915, Nolo Sokak Bachelievler Mah Elevan Nurdagi at Gaziantep, when Julie indicated the presence of a living person beneath the rubble. This was later confirmed by the other canine, Romeo.

Subsequently, after hours of operation, Beren was rescued. The next day, Miray was rescued from the debris of a collapsed building at Bacheli Elver Mahallesi in Nurdagi. The canine duo was among a total of four sniffer dogs deployed for search-and-rescue operations. A total of 101 NDRF personnel had been deputed to Turkey in two separate batches, who rescued the two children and evacuated 85 bodies as part of their operations.

The three teams were led by Gurminder Singh, commandant second battalion, Aditya Pratap Singh, second in command and Deputy Commander Abhishek. The groups included a doctor, hazardous material technicians, engineers, logisticians, paramedics and emergency managers. "The rescue operation was conducted with the collaboration of all other rescue teams. Although we faced several difficulties, we were able to do our job and rescued two minors," said second-in-command Rajesh Ranjan, who assisted the NDRF team and coordinated with local authorities.