How India's pawsome rescue team saved 6-year-old girl trapped under debris in earthquake-hit Turkey

New Delhi, Feb 13: The miraculous rescue of a 6-year-old girl, after being trapped for three days following a series of powerful earthquakes struck Turkey, grabbed headlines and offered a glimmer of hope in the midst of a catastrophe. But it would not have been possible without two Indian sniffer dogs.

Romio and Julie, members of the dog squad for the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), played an instrumental role in detecting 6-year-old Nasreen's whereabouts under tons of rubble.

Gurminder Singh, the contingent commander, and the handlers of Romio and Julie told India Today that it was Julie who first sniffed out Nasreen and alerted her handler. The canine dog Romeo was then brought in and he confirmed that the person buried beneath the debris was alive.

"The 2 dogs - Romeo and Julie - played a huge role. Julie led us to the kid. She is a hero for us," Director General of NDRF said, pride in his squad reflecting in his tone. Karwal said that the canine squad has proved to be a boon even amid high-end equipment.

After her rescue, Nasreen was airlifted by military chopper and moved to the Indian Army's field hospital in Turkey's Hatay for treatment. She is now recovering, according to reports.

India has launched 'Operation Dost' to extend assistance to Turkey as well as Syria following Feb 6 devastating earthquake that has killed more than 33,300 persons in the two countries so far. The NDRF is working to extricate live victims from under the rubble and providing first-aid to the injured, before handing them over to medical response authorities, as reported by PTI. The force is using chip and stone cutters to breach fallen concrete slabs and other infrastructure and has deep radars that pick feeble sounds like the heartbeat or sound of a person, officials said.

The teams on the ground have quick deployed antenna and satellite phones for communication.

Six dogs - Romeo, Julie, Rambo, Honey, Bob and Roxy - are part of the NDRF rescue teams in Turkey. The Labradors, expert in sniffing and specially trained to help in rescue operations, left for Turkey with two separate teams of the NDRF, which has been deployed under Operation Dost initiative to provide assistance and relief materials to the quake-ravaged nation.