By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-12-15 12:16:12 | Updated at 2024-12-15 15:02:28
3 hours ago
In the eastern city of Changshu, six Palestinians have spent two weeks being trained by a team from China’s Blue Sky Rescue in urban search and rescue operations.
They were taught how to shore up collapsed buildings, cut through walls, search for victims and safely evacuate survivors.
It is now just over a year since the Israel-Gaza war began, and in that time more than 44,000 Palestinians – including at least 88 of the search and rescue team’s colleagues – have been killed. So when they were invited to send a delegation for training in China, they jumped at the chance to help save more lives.
The search and rescue team of Palestine’s Civil Defence first met China’s Blue Sky rescuers back in February 2023, amid the rubble of Malatya, Turkey, as they worked side by side to find survivors after a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Turkey and Syria. China sent more than 200 members of its grass-roots rescue organisation to assist in the wake of the disaster.
That shared experience has led to a growing relationship between the two teams.
“China has the kindest and most hospitable people,” said Raed Qazmouz, director of central operations in the Palestinian Civil Defence, from his headquarters in Ramallah. “I had known they were a polite and respectful people, but not to this extent.”
