Photo of Turkish woman hugging Indian Army officer in Turkey’s earthquake-hit Hatay

A picture of a Turkish woman hugging an Indian Army officer who helped with rescue operations in Turkey’s Hatay after the devastating earthquake that hit the country and northern Syria earlier this week has gone viral.

Turkish woman hugging an Indian Army officer

The clicks were made at a field hospital set up by the Indian Army and the Indian Rescue Mission in Hatay, Turkey. Parts of Hatay and neighboring Iskenderun have been reduced to rubble, and entire city blocks have been reduced to rubble after the earthquake.

The earthquake has so far claimed 21,051 lives, with more than 17,674 killed in Turkey. So far 3,377 people have died in Syria. The number is expected to rise as rescue teams pull people out of the rubble.

The photo went viral after it was posted on Twitter by freelance journalist Zahhak Tanveer. The same image was earlier shared on the Indian Army’s Twitter handle with the caption: ‘We Care’.

Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed through a tweet that the Indian Army has set up a field hospital in the earthquake-hit city.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also shared an incident on Twitter where Indian Army officers saved the life of a six-year-old girl, Beren, in Gaziantep.

“Proud of our NDRF. (During) a rescue operation in Turkey, Team IND-11 saved the life of a six-year-old girl, Beren, in the city of Gaziantep. Under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi, we are determined to make NDRF the world’s leading disaster response force. #OperationDost,” Shah said in a tweet.

Under Operation Dost, India has sent over 250 personnel, specialized equipment and over 129 tonnes of other relief material to Turkey. Five C-17 Indian Air Force aircraft were used to transport personnel and material.

India has been able to send over 250 personnel, specialized equipment and over 129 tonnes of other relief material to Turkey on 5 C-17 IAF aircraft.

Turkish Ambassador to India Firat Sunel thanked India for the support given by the government to his country. “Operation Dost is a very important operation. And it is an operation of friendship because DOST is a word in Hindi and Turkish which means friend. And this operation reflects our friendship between India and Turkey and dost is always a- helping other,” said Sunel.

Meanwhile, the sixth aircraft carrying personnel and relief material from India has reached Turkey.

India has sent over 6 tonnes of emergency relief aid to Syria via C130J IAF aircraft in Damascus. The shipment includes medicines for emergency use, fluids for hydration, protective gear, general use medicines and medical equipment like ECG machines, patient monitors etc. The Syrian government received the shipment at Damascus airport earlier this week.