Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. rescue team waiting for Turkey quake go-ahead

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 09 Feb, 2023 04:29 PM
  • B.C. rescue team waiting for Turkey quake go-ahead

VANCOUVER - A British Columbia search and rescue team is ready and willing to head to Turkey to help after a devastating earthquake, but it's facing multiple hurdles as it awaits approval from federal authorities.

Justin Mulcahy, spokesman for Vancouver's Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team, says "there has been no official request" from Ottawa to deploy the team.

B.C.'s Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma says the province reached out to Public Safety Canada on Monday morning, just hours after the quake, because such emergency assistance needs to be co-ordinated.

Ma says the province has since been in constant daily contact with Public Safety Canada but has "yet to receive direction."

The minister says she can't presume to know what conversations Global Affairs Canada is having with partners as she waits on a federal response.

Mulcahy says the Vancouver rescue team is also waiting on international accreditation from a UN-affiliated agency that would allow them to deploy on short notice.

"We're working on that through this accreditation process so we can be in a position in the future to be able to immediately deploy our teams internationally," Mulcahy said.

"Our focus has been on having these teams available for use locally, provincially and federally."

The Vancouver Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team operates under the city's fire department.

Taylan Tokmak, Turkey's consul general in Vancouver, said Wednesday that a separate volunteer group, the Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue Team, is already in the Turkish quake zone.

Ma says the Burnaby team "self-deployed" this week.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake, followed by several powerful aftershocks, ravaged parts of southeastern Turkey and northwest Syria, flattening buildings and killing many thousands of people.

MORE National ARTICLES

Officer may have had suicidal past: VPD sergeant

Officer may have had suicidal past: VPD sergeant
Sgt. Cindy Vance, who put together a timeline of Chan's HR complaints, says that during her hiring process, Chan disclosed that she had consumed 30 to 40 Tylenol in 2006, when she was 17 years old.    

Officer may have had suicidal past: VPD sergeant

Two dead, two hurt in latest B.C. avalanches

Two dead, two hurt in latest B.C. avalanches
RCMP say the two people died in a slide Monday near Mount McCrae southeast of Revelstoke. Police say they were with a small group heli-skiing in the backcountry near an area known as "Chocolate Bunnies."

Two dead, two hurt in latest B.C. avalanches

Metro hikes dividend 10% as profit climbs

Metro hikes dividend 10% as profit climbs
Grocers have come under intense scrutiny in recent months for posting strong profits as many Canadians struggle with higher food costs. Critics have accused grocers of so-called greedflation, suggesting they are profiteering at a time of spiralling inflation.

Metro hikes dividend 10% as profit climbs

Police search for up to 15 youth in TTC assault

Police search for up to 15 youth in TTC assault
Toronto police say officers responded to an area in the city's east end Monday afternoon where a group of 10 to 15 youths, all male, allegedly assaulted two TTC employees. Police described the injuries as minor, noting the initial report noted no obvious signs of injury.    

Police search for up to 15 youth in TTC assault

Fiscal room tightening as economy teeters

Fiscal room tightening as economy teeters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said affordability and making Canada competitive were his priorities heading into this cabinet meeting. Ottawa is insisting on accountability for any new health funding and Trudeau has not publicly committed to meet the premiers' demands.    

Fiscal room tightening as economy teeters

Man in distress pours milk on his face in a grocery store, turns out he had been victim of an assault

Man in distress pours milk on his face in a grocery store, turns out he had been victim of an assault
On January 17th at approximately 5:50 pm the New Westminster Police were called to the 800 block of Carnarvon Street to assist a man in distress who was pouring milk on his face inside a grocery store. Officers learned that the man was the victim of an assault and moments earlier he had been assaulted with bear spray in an attempted robbery. 

Man in distress pours milk on his face in a grocery store, turns out he had been victim of an assault