Mexican “Topos” attend training course in Taiwan

Out of the tragedy of the 1985 earthquake in Mexico rose a search & rescue group known as “Los Topos ” (The Moles). Today, there are over seven organizations who include this word in their name, including Rescate Internacional Topos A.C .

In total, 11 members of this group will travel to Taiwan to receive training on the latest search & rescue techniques, how to manufacture useful technology in case of emergencies, and to strengthen the ties between both, Mexico and Taiwan.

The training course is being financed by the government of Taiwan and brigade members are only required to pay 20% of the airline tickets as the members are volunteers and; therefore, not paid for their job.

During a press conference, the Director-General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Mexico, Carlos Liao , talked about the importance of the trade links between Taiwan and Mexico and on the relevance of Mexican search & rescue teams to become familiar with coping techniques to help victims.

For her part, diplomat Josefa Guan-Mei said that after the September 19 earthquake, the Buddhist foundation Tzu-Chi, the Taiwanese Business Association and the Government of Taiwan donated 12,000 blankets and over MXN$ 2.8 million to the victims.

According to data from the United Nations, despite the differences in extension and total population, Taiwan and Mexico are both located in the so-called Ring of Fire and, thus, considered highly-seismic territories.

On February 6, 2018, Taiwan was hit by a 6.4 earthquake that killed two people and left over 200 injured.

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