After 11 days helping the survivors of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey, the doctors from the Military Medical Academy returned to Bulgaria. Shortly after 9:30 p.m. last night, the medics landed in Sofia, on board the military "Spartan", which had previously made a course to Beirut to deliver humanitarian aid to the victims in Syria.

"The first impression is that chaos reigns," said Major Dr. Tsvetan Stanimirov, a surgeon, one of four doctors from the Military Medical Academy sent to the area of the worst earthquake damage, a few hours after the quake.

"On landing at Adana airport, we found that the services were not prepared. They did not know that rescue teams were coming. Our team was the first international to land there."

"The help we provided was to living people, we were not able to get people alive from the buildings themselves. In Hatay we saw an apocalypse. Everything was destroyed," explained Stanimirov.

Maria Borisova was also in Turkey to help.

"Sorrow, tragedy, hope in people's eyes. They are waiting to see what happens to their loved ones. Relatives had gathered from all parts of Turkey to stand by the ruins of the building. The pain that people experienced was indescribable," she shared .

Four more teams were prepared for departure to the disaster area, explained the director of the hospital, Gen. Vencislav Mutafchiiski, who welcomed the medics:

"I suggested to them last Saturday that they be rotated. They categorically refused. I quote the words of Dr. Stanimirov: ‘We still have work to do’. I was sure that they would refuse."

Doctors helped injured people outside the destroyed buildings. There were no children among them.

The victims of the devastating earthquakes in the south of Turkey and Syria last week exceeded 42 thousand people.

A 17-year-old girl was pulled out alive after more than 10 days under the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras district. Shortly after, it became clear that a twenty-year-old girl who spent 258 hours under the debris of a skyscraper in Kahramanmaras was also rescued.

Rescuers also pulled out a 12-year-old boy named Osman. It was rescued after spending 260 hours buried after the quake.

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/BNR