Photos of Mexico's famous rescue dogs sent to help search for earthquake survivors in Turkey
- Mexico sent a team of its famous search and rescue dogs to help locate earthquake survivors in Turkey.
- The dogs are trained to sniff out humans in the rubble.
Mexico sent a team of its famed search and rescue dogs to help search for survivors in the rubble following the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday.
A plane carrying 16 of the dogs took off from Mexico on Tuesday, according to Mexico's Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard.
Ebrard shared several photographs of the dogs, which included Belgian Malinois, Australian Sheepdogs, and Labradors.
The search and rescue dogs gained prominence in 2017 after they aided rescue efforts following the earthquake in Mexico that killed hundreds of people.
A yellow labrador named Frida, memorably pictured wearing boots and goggles, became a national icon after she was seen helping search for survivors.
She was credited with rescuing a dozen people in Haiti in 2010 and located over 40 bodies in operations in various countries over nearly a decade.
Although Frida died last year, another dog who aided in the 2017 earthquake rescue efforts was among those traveling to Turkey, the BBC reported.
Mexico is not the only country to send dogs, with canines and their handlers also being sent by the United States, the UK, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Libya, Poland, and Switzerland, according to the BBC.
The animals are trained to sniff out humans and are often used in areas where using heavy machinery could cause rubble to collapse and further endanger people.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake has left more than 24,000 people dead, officials said on Saturday.
Survivors are still being pulled from the devasted buildings five days after the earthquake.
Two women trapped for 122 hours were discovered alive amid the rubble of collapsed buildings in Turkey, authorities said on Saturday, Reuters reported.