UAE President sends aid worth $100m to Syria, Türkiye

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has ordered an aid package totalling $100m for earthquake relief in Syria and Türkiye.

The aid will be divided equally between the two countries, both of which suffered mass casualties and severe damage to infrastructure in the wake of successive earthquakes and aftershocks. 

This follows an earlier gesture of support by the UAE President, who had directed the establishment of a field hospital as well as the dispatch of search and rescue teams to both Syria and Türkiye. The provision of urgent relief supplies and emergency aid to Syria, was also directed.

Read: UAE establishes field hospital, sends search and rescue teams to Türkiye, Syria

Meanwhile, two aircraft carrying humanitarian aid from the UAE arrived at the Damascus Airport, the Joint Operations Command of the Ministry of Defence announced.

UAE second airplane loaded with humanitarian aid arrives in Damascus International Airport
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A total of 12 tonnes of essential supplies and several tents to lodge 216 displaced people are part of the initial aid package, official news agency WAM reported.

More than 5,800 people have succumbed to the earthquakes that battered southern Türkiye. Rescue operations have helped retrieve scores of trapped people from beneath the rubble in affected, debris-strewn areas.

Death toll from Monday’s earthquakes in southern Türkiye rises to 5,894, says Turkish vice president pic.twitter.com/DsvaebMRnd

— ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) February 7, 2023

The epicentre of the first quake, measuring 7.8 in magnitude, was near Nurdagi in Gaziantep province, the Syrian border. Another two quakes followed, jolting Kahramanmaraş, a province nearby, trailed by a relatively milder one, measuring 5.6, in the central Turkey region.

Also read: Turkey, Syria earthquake: Death toll crosses 5,000

Several nations have dispatched search and rescue teams to southern Türkiye. The UN has also extended its support, announcing $25m in humanitarian aid Tuesday for Türkiye and Syria.

UN announces $25 million in humanitarian aid for Türkiye and Syria after deadly earthquakes https://t.co/AV8y3ESctU pic.twitter.com/SClyyQcyj0

— ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) February 7, 2023