Roodepoort and Joburg organisations part of rescue team in Indonesia
A few of the rescuers currently in Indonesia belong to a couple of local organisations.
In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Indonesia, many of the volunteers and rescuers were taken to Indonesia by the Cape Town-based NGO, Gift of the Givers. Some of these volunteers and rescuers are from Roodepoort.
Disaster struck the Indonesian island of Palu on 28 September, when a 7,8 magnitude earthquake rocked the island to its core. The disaster that followed the earthquake right across the island was devastating, with liquefaction following in a lot of areas, levelling the majority of the island in the process.
Ever since, hundreds upon hundreds of relief teams and organisations from around the world have extended their hands to help with search and rescue efforts on the island. Although there are strict requirements to meet in order to do relief work on the island, the danger areas (known as hot zones) in particular, the Cape Town-based NGO, Gift of the Givers, was granted permission to send a team across.
The team consists of rescuers and volunteers from all over, including individuals from local organisations Riga Rescue, City of Joburg Emergency Management Services, and Emergency Control South Africa – Joburg West, to name a few.
https://www.facebook.com/ECSA.JHBWEST/videos/534002843728024/
The team landed on the island of Palu on Sunday, 7 October after a strenuous 30 hours of flying. They began setting up camp on the same day, and were taken straight into the hot zone on Monday, 8 October. After a tiring day in the hot zone on Monday, the team hit the sack back at camp, hoping to get a good night’s rest before heading out again the next morning.
But, much to their dismay, four aftershocks struck within 20 minutes in the early hours of the morning of Tuesday, 9 October. The strongest aftershock measured at 5,2 on the Richter scale, leaving the rescue team visibly shaken.
https://www.facebook.com/ziyanda.ngcobo.52/videos/10155724845851516/
Regardless of the threats they face on a daily basis, the team continues its amazing search and rescue efforts, and will be hoping to be back home by 18 October.
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