Turkey sends aid to Bangladesh after Cox's Bazar fire

By Aybuke Inal Kamaci

ANKARA (AA) - A Turkish military cargo plane carrying hospital supplies and a field hospital departed for Bangladesh early Saturday following the March 22 deadly blaze in Cox’s Bazar which shelters thousands of Rohingya refugees.

On the instructions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and Health Ministry along with the Environment and Urbanization Ministry began work to deliver aid to the region.

A new field hospital, prepared to help the damaged Turkish field hospital become operational again, was loaded on an A 400M-type military cargo plane at the Etimesgut Military Airport in the capital Ankara.

A total of 22 personnel from the Turkish Health Ministry, AFAD, and Turkey's Housing and Development Administration also departed for Bangladesh.

The Turkish field hospital was one of the largest healthcare centers in the refugee camp said to be the world's largest. It houses more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees who fled violence and persecution in Myanmar in August 2017.

The UN has confirmed that at least 15 people have been killed, 560 injured, and 400 still missing, while at least 10,000 shelters have been destroyed.

Besides others, Turkish humanitarian agencies have also mobilized their resources to respond to the emergency.