BANGKOK — The rescue mission is running after time as six days have passed since the deadly collapse of the State Audit Office building, warns chief of the Israeli Search and Rescue mission on Thursday, April 3.
The head of the search and rescue delegation, who asked not to be named of taken a photo due to the fact that Israel is in a state of war against Hamas, spoke to a group of Thai journalists in Bangkok at the Embassy of Israel on Thursday that from his extensive experience in many countries, only a few survived and were rescued after more than 7 days.
“We have not given up hope yet. We’re doing our best to find some signs of living people,” said the chief, who holds the rank of an army colonel in Israel Defence Force (IDF) and was dispatched to Bangkok at the weekend by the direct order of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Friday’s 7.7 quake in Myanmar led to the collapsed on the building.
The man, known as Colonel Y, said it’s not his decision to make when the Thai government should cease the search and rescue and shift to the mere recovery of the dead bodies, however. He praised Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipant for demonstrating “real leadership” and added the rescue teams of different nations work as one under his leadership. “We’re like a small tight family,” Colonel Y said, adding that oftentimes, language is not a barrier.
He added that his team of 22 people, who work in two shifts, and often no shift, will remain at the site in Bangkok as long as they are useful. “We will stay.”
Colonel Y admits what Thailand faced is unprecedented, however, as skyscrapers were not supposed to collapse due to the earthquake, while all floors were identical. “Skyscrapers were not meant to fall.”
“It’s a unique event. Thirty four floors of the building collapsed with dozens of missing people. [It’s] 75,000 tonnes of concrete and iron. Now just imagine. It’s a mountain of concrete and iron. It’s not like you go to the shelf and take a book [out].”
Although the team was unable to rescue anyone alive since they arrived, they came with a hi-tech method of handling the disaster. It includes making a 3-D model of the building and simulating the collapse, and interviewing survivors, in order to better predict where the survivors and bodies may be located.
There is also a huge back office in Israel analyzing the information collected in Bangkok in order to build a big picture from thousands of pieces of photos and information. “It’s a crumble trail.”
All this is to help the Thai leadership make the right decision, Colonel Y explains.
Israeli Ambassador Orna Sagiv, who sat next to Colonel Y, added that some civilian passengers had to be told to wait for the next flight to Bangkok in order to allow the search and rescue team to arrive as quickly as possible.
“People have to be taken off the flight. According to the Jewish values, we reach out to friends in need. Thailand is a good friend,” said Sagiv, adding that Colonel Y and his deputy, Major B, probably didn’t have a full-night sleep since they arrived.
Colonel Y said he knew right after he heard the news about the earthquake and the building’s collapsing that he would likely be called to help in Thailand. “But before we got the phone call, we made some preparations.”
Colonel Y and his Deputy, Major M, both wear green fatigue uniforms. They still have a lot of grey concrete covering his booth. Colonel Y said his son, who will finish the compulsory military service in a few months, wishes to visit Thailand as a tourist. As they were about to excuse themselves to go back to work, he said he hoped that we meet again but only on good occasions instead.
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