(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – The seventh flight under Operation Dost delivered another consignment of relief material for earthquake-hit Turkey and Syria on Sunday. According to latest reports, over 29,000 people have died due to the devastation caused in these two countries.
The Indian Air Force C17 aircraft reached Damascus Airport in Syria with over 23 tons of relief material, including gensets, solar lamps, emergency & critical care medicines, & disaster relief consumables. It was received at the Damascus airport by Syria’s Deputy Minister of Local Administration & Environment Moutaz Douaji.
The aircraft then headed to Adana airport in Turkey.
The supplies included medical equipment like patient monitor, ECG, syringe pumps and disaster relief material, along with supplies for Indian teams on the ground, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had tweeted about the departure of this flight.
“The 7th #OperationDost flight departs for Syria and Türkiye. Flight is carrying relief material, medical aid, emergency & critical care medicines, medical equipment & consumables,” EAM Jaishankar said on Saturday night.
Responding to the devastation caused by the earthquake in the region on February 6, India had sent search and rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in addition to dog squads, medical personnel and supplies to Turkey.
India had also dispatched more than 6 tons of emergency relief assistance through a C130J IAF aircraft to Syria. The consignment included medicines for emergency use, fluids for hydration, protective gear, general use medicines and medical equipment like ECG machine and patient monitors.
The MEA had earlier said that the deployment of the teams in Turkey is being coordinated with the local authorities through the Indian Embassy, which has set up a Camp Office at Adana. The NDRF teams are rendering assistance in rescue operations at Gaziantep while the medical team is setting up the Field Hospital in Iskenderun.
Additionally, a group of MEA officials, two of whom are Turkish speaking officers, have been deployed to Turkey to assist the teams involved in rescue and relief operations.
In response to the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed that all possible assistance be extended to the affected people.
Operation Dost was subsequently launched to provide immediate assistance with search and rescue (SAR) operations and medical aid. Multiple government departments coordinated this endeavor, which led to a prompt reaction. The first C-17 IAF aircraft with a trained search and rescue squad was sent to Turkey just hours after a request for assistance was received.
(India News Network)
