The Burundian government on Sunday, February 12, 2023, announced that it had deployed ten officers specialised in disaster management to Turkey as part of the efforts to rescue lives after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria.

“Taking into account the quality of the ties of friendship and cooperation with Turkey, and the deadly earthquake that struck it, Burundi is sending a specialised natural disaster intervention team in solidarity with the brotherly people of Turkey,” Burundi’s Foreign Affairs Minister Albert Shingiro tweeted.

In a letter from the Secretary-General of the Burundi Government Prosper Ntahorwamiye, Gitega designated the team that will help in rescue missions in Turkey for at least one week.

Funding the rescue mission

“Financing of the mission is provided by the Government of Burundi from the Disaster Prevention and Management Fund which is under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Security,” the letter read.

This comes a week after the deadly earthquake that hit Turkey and its neighbouring Syria, and which killed nearly 40,000 people.