Fairfax County Search And Rescue Team Heading To Turkey, Syria After Massive Earthquake

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Members of Virginia Task Force 1 in Fairfax County are making plans to head to Turkey and Syria after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit parts of the countries, killing thousands of people and leaving thousands of others missing among the rubble.

The task force team will consist of 79 people and six dogs, the task force said in a tweet Monday afternoon. Departure plans for the rescue team are still being worked out, according to the task force.

Jeff Flake, U.S. ambassador to Turkey, told CNN's Jake Tapper that the Fairfax County search and rescue group is one of two U.S. units being sent to look for people trapped in the ruins of buildings in Syria and Turkey.

At least 5,606 buildings collapsed during and after the earthquake on Monday, according to Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Agency. There are a total of 19,574 rescue personnel working in the earthquake region for recovery efforts, CNN reported Monday.

The death toll in Turkey climbed to 2,316 on Monday, according to Turkish officials.

In the government-held areas of neighboring Syria, the Health Ministry said 656 people were killed. Civilian rescue agencies that operate in Syria's rebel-held northwest said more than 733 people were killed there, with hundreds more injured, CBS News reported.

Sponsored by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, Virginia Task Force 1 is composed of about 200 specially trained career and volunteer fire and rescue personnel, with expertise in the rescue of victims from collapsed structures, following a natural or man-made catastrophic event.

Virginia Task Force 1 has partnerships with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for domestic events and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance for international missions.

The Urban Search and Rescue teams deployed from the U.S. are trained to excavate people trapped under rubble.

The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, which handles international deployments of the task force, said the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria was the worst one in that region in nearly a century.