UPDATE - Turkey's plane carrying COVID-19 aid arrives in Chad

UPDATES WITH ARRIVAL OF AID; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Merve Aydogan and Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - A Turkish plane carrying medical supplies to Chad to battle coronavirus has arrived in the country for the second time in the wake of pandemic, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

"The Turkish Armed Forces aircraft carrying medical supplies for use against the #COVID19 outbreak has landed in Chad," the ministry said on Twitter.

Besides the medical supplies, the aircraft also carried an ambulance to be donated to Chad.

“A Turkish Armed Forces aircraft, carrying the medical supplies, prepared by the Health Ministry at the direction of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for use against the COVID-19 outbreak, took off from Ankara Etimesgut Airbase for Chad,” the ministry said earlier in the day on Twitter.

The boxes containing the aid carried a message for people of the Central African country: "After hopelessness, there is so much hope, and after darkness, there is the much brighter sun,” it said, quoting the words of 13th century Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi.

The first set of supplies was sent on May 26 along with an ambulance.

Turkey and Chad signed two agreements on donations in the field of health on May 6 and May 21.

The medical supplies by Turkey are "granted to the government of the Republic of Chad as a gesture of friendship and goodwill."

Turkey has helped at least 125 countries with humanitarian aid, including the US, UK, Italy, and Spain, making it the world's third-largest provider during the pandemic.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has spread to 188 countries and regions across the world. The US, Brazil and Russia are currently the worst-hit regions.

Worldwide, the virus has killed more than 450,800 people, with total infections over 8.41 million, and 4.11 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.