Another aid train sets off for flood-hit Pakistan from Türkiye

By Orhan Onur Gemici

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye's 13th "Kindness Train" set off for Pakistan on Saturday with aid for the victims of catastrophic floods that have submerged one-third of the South Asian country.

The train, which left the capital Ankara, is carrying 554 tons of disaster relief supplies, the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD) said in a statement on the shipment ordered by Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and under AFAD's coordination.

Expected to reach Pakistan's capital Islamabad in about two weeks, the train's cargo will raise the total aid carried to the disaster-hit country this month by rail alone to roughly 7,290 tons.

The number of casualties from flood-related incidents across the country since mid-June stands at 1,576, according to Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority.

Some 803,400 houses have been completely destroyed, while over 1.21 million houses are partially damaged across the country.

The floods have displaced hundreds of thousands of people who are living in tents.

The monsoon season in Pakistan, like in other countries in the region, usually results in heavy rains, but this year has been the wettest since 1961.

Currently, one-third of the country is under water as the massive rains and melting glaciers have caused the country's main Indus River to overflow, inundating vast swaths of plains and farms.