158 Train Expeditions Organized for Evacuation of Disaster Victims

The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure pointed out that all the teams affiliated to the ministry were working hard in the earthquake region and emphasized that the earthquake victims were evacuated free of charge on the railways. He underlined that the seaway is used as an alternative, especially in aids to be delivered to Hatay.

158 TRAIN EXHIBITIONS ORGANIZED TO REALIZE CITIZENS' EVOLUTIONS

In the statement, it was noted that 1275 kilometers of railway line was affected by the earthquakes, and that the works were completed on 1060 kilometers of the line and opened to traffic. It was stated that uninterrupted railway transportation is provided to Mersin - Adana - Osmaniye - İskenderun, Adana- Niğde - Kayseri-Ankara and Sivas - Malatya - Elazig and Diyarbakir directions. The statement continued as follows:

“From the first day of the earthquake, our citizens are allowed to travel free of charge without any restrictions on additional trains and scheduled trains, in their evacuation from the disaster area and their transfer to other regions by connecting. In order to carry out the evacuations, 158 trains were organized from the disaster area, and approximately 30 thousand of our citizens affected by the disaster were evacuated. In order to ensure the evacuation of our citizens from the disaster area, additional flights were launched to provinces such as Sivas-Ankara-Konya-Karaman-Kayseri-Isparta-Burdur-Denizli-Uşak-Kütahya. Accommodation for 6 thousand people was provided through passenger wagons, training and social facilities. 458 volunteer doctors and 2 military personnel were transferred to the earthquake zone by YHT Sets, DMU Sets and conventional trains. 700 thousand liters of fuel support was provided to vehicles such as construction equipment and ambulances working in the earthquake zone. With 30 aid trains, living materials, 27 living containers, 108 mobile WCs, 42 wagons, food, water, clothing, heater, hygiene and humanitarian aid materials were transported to the region. Fuel trains were sent to the region for the urgent need of the region to supply fuel.”

659 CITIZENS HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED FROM THE REGION BY SEA

In the statement, which was noted that the seaway was used as an alternative, especially in aids to be delivered to Hatay, the statement said, “The fire in Iskenderun Port was completely extinguished. Over 1500 containers that had been scrapped were pulled one by one from the container stack. In the next period, it is planned to rehabilitate the port by removing the burned containers from the field. Ro-Ro and cruise ships dock at Iskenderun Port, and humanitarian aid is also evacuated. The first ships started to be loaded in the first 24 hours from Istanbul, Izmir and TRNC in order to transport humanitarian aid and especially construction equipment to the earthquake area by sea. Out of 12 merchant ships, 8 of them have been unloaded to the ports of Iskenderun Bay and one to Mersin. On these 9 ships, there are 290 trucks of humanitarian aid, 338 construction equipment including cranes, 4 loaded fuel tankers and 809 support personnel. On the return of these ships, 659 citizens were evacuated from the region by sea. In addition, food and other aid materials such as continuous humanitarian aid, mobile toilets and generators from Mersin and Adana were sent to Çevlik Balıkçı (Samandağ) shelter by bypassing the land traffic, with 38 large fishing vessels, and this activity continues. In addition, these boats continue to carry out evacuation operations on their return.