KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today wished success to the Special Malaysian Search and Rescue Team (SMART) that has been deployed to Turkey to participate in the search and rescue (SAR) mission for earthquake victims in the republic.

Through a post on Facebook, he also prayed that the team’s efforts would be made easier.

The team, made up of members of the Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) and the Civil Defence Force (APM) arrived in Turkey at 11am (Malaysian time) yesterday to participate in SAR mission.

An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale hit the Pazarcik district in the Kahrananmaras region in last Monday morning and shook several other regions, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay and Kilis.

According to media reports, as of yesterday, the tragedy has claimed more than 5,000 lives in Turkey and Syria. — Bernama