The UAE humanitarian arm and a number of ministries have called for participation in the “Bridges of Good” campaign to assist in gathering and assembling relief supplies for quake-ravaged Turkey and Syria….reports Asian Lite News
President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has ordered an aid package totalling $100 million for earthquake relief in Syria and Turkey.
The aid will be divided equally between Syria and Turkey, which both suffered mass casualties and large-scale damage to buildings and infrastructure in yesterday’s magnitude 7.8 quake and aftershocks.
Aid planes reach Turkey
Three aid planes carrying relief supplies, medical equipment and emergency aid arrived in Turkey yesterday as part of the air bridge launched by the UAE to help those affected by the earthquake in Turkey.
The air bridge is part of the ‘Gallant Knight 2’ operation, which was launched in line with the directives of UAE President His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Joint Operations Command of the Ministry of Defence announced the arrival of the three planes.
‘Bridges of Good’ campaign
Meanwhile, the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) Authority and a number of ministries have called for participation in the “Bridges of Good” campaign to assist in gathering and assembling relief supplies.
The campaign will begin with the packaging of the initial aid on February 11th from 9.00 a.m. to 2.00 pm at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) and the Dubai Exhibition Centre, at Expo City Dubai.
Starting on February 12, the ERC and the partnering UAE humanitarian and charitable organisations will directly collect donations in cash and in kind over the course of two weeks.
The campaign, organised by the ERC in collaboration with charitable and humanitarian organisations in the UAE, calls on all facets of the UAE society to support this voluntary effort to gather and mobilise humanitarian relief supplies in solidarity with the affected Syrian and Turkish families.
Those interested in contributing to the campaign can register via: volunteers.ae.
Death toll nears 9,000
The death toll from the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday has risen to 8,764, according to officials, reported CNN.
At least 6,234 people have died in Turkey, while at least 2,530 have been killed in Syria. At least 34,810 people have been injured in Turkey, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Tuesday, while in Syria A total of 4,654 injuries have been reported.
The search for survivors of the terrible earthquake that shook Turkey and Syria on Monday continues on Wednesday. Foreign aid from multiple countries has started arriving in the region.
Rescuers are racing to pull survivors from earthquake rubble before they succumb to cold weather in southern Turkey and war-ravaged northern Syria. As the death toll climbed, despair and anger were growing over the pace of rescue efforts, reported Khaleej Times.
After a series of earthquakes and aftershocks in Turkey and Syria, many tried to flee the devastated city of Gaziantep, located about 33km (20 miles) from the epicentre.
With the airport and many roads outside the city blocked, those who were unable to leave took refuge on Tuesday in shopping malls, stadiums, mosques and community centres.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Red Crescent has called on Western countries to lift sanctions on the country to facilitate relief efforts.
“Lift the economic sanctions imposed on Syria and the Syrian people,” said Khaled Hboubati, president of the Syrian Red Crescent.
“Open the way for us. We are ready to provide assistance. We are ready to provide aid through the crossline and to send aid convoys to Idlib,” he told reporters.
“I call on the United Nations, and the countries on the European Union and the USAID Program to support,” he added.
The Syrian government remains under heavy sanctions aimed at isolating the country economically in response to widely documented human rights violations since the war started in 2011.
The colossal mission to find survivors in Gaziantep has been ongoing for more than 50 hours, with some rescuers using nothing more than their hands to dig through concrete and debris in the southern Turkish city, reported CNN.
Bulldozers and workers wearing helmets are ploughing through the mountainous pile of broken concrete, as plumes of dust surround them.
The World Health Organisation has warned that the death toll in the two countries could end up surpassing 20,000.
