SCDF team to return home from quake-hit Myanmar on Apr 8
Over the past two days, the team handed over essential supplies to the Myanmar Fire Services Department, in hopes that they will continue to help relief and recovery efforts.
The SCDF team deployed to Myanmar to assist in rescue efforts will return to Singapore on Apr 8, 2025. (Photo: Facebook/Singapore Civil Defence Force)
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SINGAPORE: A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) team deployed in Myanmar after a devastating earthquake hit the country on Mar 28 is preparing to return home after a search and rescue operation there.
The 80-member team was sent there to assist with rescue efforts after an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale killed thousands. The epicentre was close to Mandalay, the nation's second biggest city.
The quake has killed more than 3,400 people and left hundreds missing.
In a Facebook update on Monday (Apr 7), SCDF said the team would return to Singapore on Tuesday afternoon.
Over the past two days, the team has handed over essential supplies such as tents, canned food and ready-to-eat rations to the Myanmar Fire Services Department (MFSD), it said.
It also donated two tents to Naypyidaw Women's Hospital as well as five tents, medicine and other medical supplies to Naypyidaw General Hospital.
“It is hoped that these supplies will continue to help the relief and recovery efforts as the people of Myanmar work to rebuild their community,” said SCDF.
In a video included in the post, the contingent executes a "keluar baris", marking the conclusion of their mission. This is a military term in Malay meaning "fall out".
RESCUE EFFORTS
The Operation Lionheart contingent was deployed to Myanmar a day after the earthquake hit Myanmar.
The team comprised rescuers from the elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART), operationally ready National Servicemen, full-time National Servicemen medical doctors, paramedics, search specialists with four dogs, hazardous materials specialists and support officers.
As the team worked in the nation's capital Naypyidaw, one of the areas hardest hit by the quake, they freed a man from a collapsed building on Mar 30.
A battery-operated hydraulic cutter that was instrumental in rescuing the man was gifted by team leader Colonel Tay Zhi Wei to the director general of the MFSD, on behalf of SCDF, said the force in its update on Monday.
“This cutter is now an enduring symbol of friendship between the SCDF and MFSD, where it will continue to serve, saving lives in the good hands of MFSD.”
Before their departure, the contingent also attended an appreciation ceremony organised by the National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC) in Naypyidaw for rescue teams sent from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.
A moment of silence was observed in memory of the earthquake victims at the event.
Each team leader was presented with a certificate and a box containing rubble from the team’s rescue sites, recognising each team’s invaluable contributions to the overall rescue efforts.
