Two Dogs Successfully Saved 28 People Trapped, and Injured and Did Not Give Up

It's been over a week since a devastating earthquake hit Syria and Turkey. Entire cities were covered in rubble in the frigid weather, making it difficult for rescuers to access the victims.

Specially trained dogs have become the hope of finding trapped victims. Two of them, Chaker and Ruzgal, have saved all 28 so far. However, the number of casualties after the earthquake continued to increase.

The dogs are constantly on duty, trying to rescue the victims. (Photo: Filippo Maturi)

On the page Turkiye posted, the two dogs are called "hidden heroes". They receive specialized training in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It is known that Çakıl and Rüzgar had to move continuously to 60 different locations in Kahramanmaras in the days after the disaster to carry out rescue operations. While working, Çakıl also fell heavily from a height of 5 meters and injured his leg. Meanwhile, Rüzgar was wounded in the eye by an iron rod. Even so, they did not give up and kept digging in the ruins, looking for traces of the victims.

One of those rescued by the dog Rüzgar was 46-year-old Mehmet Çamur. The man was removed from the ground floor of the 8th-floor apartment, which was destroyed more than 2 days after the earthquake. Recalling the moment when he was discovered by the dog, the man couldn't hide his excitement.

Çakıl has greatly assisted the rescue team in the search for victims. (Photo: Turkiye)

"I was crying so much and I wished someone could hear me. The first day someone came in and said 'we'll save you' and left. The next day someone came in and said the same thing and again Gone. I was almost desperate. Then I heard a dog barking. I screamed and the dog got closer. I am grateful that the dog found me. I was trapped under a table while the huge building was demolished. My parents are still in ruins, but all I can do is cry."

Engin Yılmaz, a K-9 trainer at the Ankara City Fire Department, said service dogs are a great help to rescue teams. Thanks to them, rescue work is much more convenient.

Rüzgar bravely searched for victims trapped for days until exhausted. (Photo: Turkiye)

"The dogs heard noises in the rubble. They kept coming closer and barking, helping us find the people trapped. Thanks to this, we found two brothers and a lawyer in the rubble. When we got closer, he said 'please Get us out of here. If it's safe, I will defend all firefighter cases for free for life." We pulled the lawyer and his sister from the wreckage 36 hours later. These dogs are an essential part of rescues."

The dog worked so hard that his legs were wrapped in bandages and still did not give up the search. (Photo: Filippo Maturi)

Earlier, the social network also shared a photo of a service dog who died in a Turkish rescue. It is understood that this is a dog from the Mexican rescue team. The brave dog, named Proteo, was one of 14 rescue dogs sent by the Mexican military to Turkey to help find the victims, PVDN said in a statement. Proteo was crushed under a pile of rubble at the time of the incident.