SINGAPORE - The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has received an award from Turkey for its search-and rescue-efforts following a magnitude-7.8 earthquake in February.

On Tuesday, SCDF was given the Medal of Appreciation by Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay, it said in a Facebook post.

After the earthquake hit south-eastern Turkey and the north-western regions of neighbouring Syria on Feb 6, the SCDF sent a 68-member team to help with rescue operations in Turkey.

The Operation Lionheart Contingent comprised members of the elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart), paramedic and medical specialists, search specialists and operation support officers who were deployed in two rounds.

The 10-day mission started on Feb 8, when the SCDF sent an advance team of 20 officers equipped with portable urban search-and-rescue equipment, life detection devices and fibre-optic scopes to Kahramanmaras in southern Turkey.

A second team, comprising 48 officers and four dogs from SCDF’s K-9 unit, arrived on Feb 10 with additional search-and-rescue equipment, medical supplies, and communication and logistics support tools.

The earthquake caused over 100,000 buildings to collapse, and claimed the lives of more than 50,000 people.

Lieutenant-Colonel Lok Wee Keong, Dart Commander, received the award at the presidential residence of the Republic of Turkey in Ankara on Tuesday evening.

SCDF Commissioner Eric Yap said the SCDF was honoured to receive the award.

“The SCDF values the strong friendship and bonds forged with our Turkey counterparts during the deployment,” he said.

“The people of Turkey have demonstrated admirable resilience and fortitude, and we are confident that they will emerge much stronger as they rebuild their lives and homes.”