Chinese search and rescue teams depart Türkiye amid applause

Two Chinese search and rescue teams departed Türkiye Thursday as their mission to save earthquake survivors came to a close.

Footage from local media showed an 11-member team and a 60-member team greeted by officials from the Turkish Foreign Ministry before their departure.

The two teams, respectively from the southern Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan, had been based in the southern province of Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of dual earthquakes.

The catastrophic earthquakes on Feb. 6 killed more than 36,000 people in Türkiye. Many more people were injured or displaced.

"We had recovered 12 people, including 11 injuries and one deceased," Yuan Jiongming, captain of the smaller team, told the local Demiroren News Agency.

The captain said they wished they could have saved more and that the team would keep in mind the friendliness of the people of Kahramanmaras they had experienced.

Meanwhile, a video surfaced Wednesday on local media showed Chinese search and rescue personnel being applauded by locals as they walk through Istanbul's famous Grand Bazaar.

Sharing the footage on its social media account, the Chinese Consulate General in Istanbul said "the long applause was a great indicator of our two nations' deep friendship."