President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Vietnamese officers in Hatay Province. Photo courtesy of Thi Tùng/QPVN

HATAY — The search and rescue teams from the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence have been deployed for emergency relief work in Turkey’s Hatay Province after two new earthquakes struck the country Monday night.

As of Tuesday morning, a further three people were killed and 213 injured in the latest quakes.

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit at 8.04pm Monday, followed by a 5.8-magnitude quake just four minutes later, in Hatay where the Vietnamese officers are based for their humanitarian and relief operations.

Major General Phạm Văn Tỵ, deputy director of the Department of Search and Rescue and Deputy Chief of the Office of the National Committee for Incident and Disaster Response, Search and Rescue, deployed 40 officers including commanders, military engineers, military medics and working dogs to take part in relief work.

The quakes further damaged buildings two weeks after the country’s worst earthquake in modern history killed more than 46,000 people.

The rescue forces of the People's Army of Việt Nam, which arrived in Turkey shortly after the earthquake, have carried out searches at 31 points in Antakya, helping identify 15 locations with earthquake victims using wall-penetrating radar.

The team found 28 victims' bodies, and coordinated with teams from Bahrain and Mexico to find three other locations with 10 victims' bodies, and helped three households.

The military medics of Việt Nam collected, treated and provided medicine for seven patients of the rescue teams from different countries.

During a meeting with relief teams from different countries, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanked all countries for the aid provided to Turkish people day and night, as well as supporting search and rescue efforts with their teams.

He said the disaster once again showed the importance of international solidarity, adding that Turkey would never forget the support. — VNS