A short sequence went around the world in which Daniel Lankers from I.S.A.R. Germany said to a buried woman after the earthquake: “Ms. Zeynep, don't be afraid”. He spoke to DW about his assignment in Turkey.
With 42 helpers, ISAR Germany was deployed in the devastated province of Hatay.
DW: Mr. Lankers, the public got to know you through a short sequence in which you say to a buried woman during a rescue operation after the earthquake in Turkey: “Zeynep Hanim korkma” (“Ms. Zeynep, don't be afraid”) . How did this assignment come about?
Daniel Lankers: First of all, I've been working as an emergency doctor for many years, most recently as a senior emergency doctor in Cologne. And it was always important to me to be able to speak a few words in different languages. Simply because I know that in this way I can help calm my patients.
A different situation like in Turkey was completely new for me too. Both as a doctor and as a person. I have kept in touch with Zeynep for many, many hours through a very, very small gap in the rubble and concrete that went over five feet. I had a woman in front of me, whom I could only see partially, who was clearly stressed by her voice and who nevertheless always exerted incredible strength. And of course I wanted to reply.
At the same time, the place where I was was ultimately so unsafe that an interpreter couldn't be there all the time. So I made a few notes, wrote down a few Turkish sentences. “Hersey yolunda” (“Everything is fine”) or “Korkma” (“Don't be afraid”). If I noticed that Zeynep was getting scared after all or that something was wrong, as a human being I could calm her down with these words that I could.
After more than 50 hours of operation, the ISAR team rescued Zeynep from the rubble. Her sister Zübeyde shortly before the rescue
After more than 50 hours, the I.S.A.R. team pulled Zeynep out of the rubble. But she succumbed to her injuries in the hospital. How do you deal with it?
First of all, as a doctor or an emergency medical technician, we all knew that Zeynep was in critical condition. She was stable when we pulled her out of the rubble. She could smile when the first sunlight fell on her face and when she heard her sister's voice. Those were very moving moments for us. Despite this, she was still in critical condition and life-threatening due to her injury, which unfortunately also came true later on.
That was a moment for all of us when we all mourned, we were all deeply affected by it. At the same time, each and every one of us would say: we would do that again. Zeynep fought, she really wanted out. Maybe because she wanted to see the sunlight again, maybe because she wanted to hug her sister or see her family, I don't know. But what I do know is that she never gave up. That's why it wouldn't have been an option for us, regardless of the result.
With how many helpers was I.S.A.R. Germany in Hatay?
I.S.A.R. Germany has about 170 honorary members. Two hours after the earthquake, we received the alarm. And 28 hours after the earthquake, we were in the disaster area. We consisted of a team of 42 people and seven rubble search dogs. Accordingly, we had seven dog handlers with us. We had a whole squad of salvagers, medics and medical staff, additional logisticians, management and even a cook. I am an emergency doctor, other of my colleagues are firefighters, nurses, intensive care workers or paramedics. But we also have engineers with us, structural engineers or architects who are very familiar with rubble structures or buildings. We also have police officers and typists who are of course trained and prepared for their tasks.
Dramatic rescue operation in Kirikhan
You are back, are you mentally back and can you switch off immediately?
I am certainly only partly here. I already know that from the last assignment a year and a half ago. There we were in Haiti after the earthquake. It also took several weeks until you saw the whole thing as a memory, these are very intense experiences. It is people in extreme situations who can always impress you, because people often outgrow their strength when they are put in extreme situations. I met a lot of people on this assignment who made a deep impression on me. And that won't let me go anytime soon.
At the same time, I am very, very happy to be with my family and my children, who always give me a lot of strength and who have always been my support. Nevertheless, follow-up team discussions will take place, where we will sit down with the people who were there and talk about it again. What was good, what was bad, what is on our minds now – that is also a very important part of it. And when I see the news now and follow what's happening there again, of course, then a part of me is there too and says: Damn it, how can you help? Because each of us does it with passion, all of us do it on a voluntary basis.
How was the coordination on site?
I can tell you little about the local disaster relief workers. We are trained to be able to work independently. The WHO assigns us an area that has been coordinated with the government. This is then a vote that runs through higher-level bodies. When we got to the city of Kirikhan, the first thing we did was contact local residents to find out where there was news. And an hour after arriving in the city, the first team started to search for people buried under the rubble and after a few hours they were able to get the first person out of the rubble alive, while another part of our team started at this point to find a place for to explore and set up the camp so that we ended up working independently from the local disaster forces.
Emergency physician Daniel Lankers from I.S.A.R. Germany in action in the Turkish earthquake area
What I experienced there was that disaster relief was there. Whether that's enough or not, I can't judge. Certainly a country like Turkey does not have enough specialized forces with such a scale of damage. That's why there was international help. But what I experienced is that whenever we encountered local forces, they supported us to the best of their ability. The collaboration ran smoothly. There were a few misunderstandings that were cleared up with just a few words.
The Austrian and German team then suspended the rescue, was the situation that uncertain?
For my part, I have not felt uncomfortable, nor have I ever been approached in any way by any of the residents in Turkey. You have to think of it like this: After several days of an earthquake, more and more people get angry. This is a normal process that we experience in many countries around the world, actually always. This is simply because the grief for the relatives, the hope of reaching them alive, dwindles more and more over time and gives way to anger and despair.
The gratitude is great, does it give you strength to keep going?
I am overwhelmed by the gratitude I have experienced over the past few days. On the one hand, it came about through our work, I know that because we traveled there. In my case, it still came about because there was a video of something that wasn't even made for the public. I said everything I said hours before and after, but only for Zeynep, because I wanted to help this woman. So it caught me very unprepared, this great wave of friendship and gratitude. Yes, I draw a lot of strength from it, but no matter how much strength I draw, I will never have as much strength as Zeynep Hanim, I still have great respect for her to this day.
Daniel Lankers , emergency physician and senior emergency physician from Cologne, works as a volunteer at I.S.A.R. Germany (International Search And Rescue). Before the Turkey assignment, he was also in Haiti after the 2021 earthquake.