Protection and rescue teams consisting of 40 people have been sent to the region affected by the earthquake in Turkey, Gaziantep, confirmed to MIA, Bekim Maksuti, director of the Protection and Rescue Directorate.

 A total of 40 people, professionals, from different cities and from different teams for rescue from ruins, from tall buildings, have been sent to the Republic of Turkey with vehicles and equipment from the Directorate for Protection and Rescue, he informed.

For now, according to the Government's decision, it is planned that they will be there for about ten days. We are talking about people who have worked on various trainings in the country, as well as abroad, in rescue from ruins. Most of them were also sent to the Republic of Albania in 2019, after the earthquake there.

In case it needs to be prolonged, they will stay or be replaced by others, depending on what the situation will be on the ground, Maksuti clarified in a statement to MIA.

The initial teams left this morning, they are expected to be there tomorrow morning. They have to cover a distance of about 1.900 kilometers by dirt road.