2nd Turkish ship carrying relief goods for flood victims reach Pakistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – A second Turkish "kindness ship" carrying 900 tons of relief goods for Pakistan's flood victims arrived in the southern port city of Karachi on Thursday.

The relief goods, including food and kitchen items, blankets, warm clothes, cleaning material, and mattresses, were handed over to Pakistani authorities at a simple ceremony at Karachi Harbor due to Monday's massive earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

Turkish Consul General in Karachi, Cemal Sangu, on behalf of the Türkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), handed over the relief items to Rasool Bux Chandio, adviser on rehabilitation to the chief minister of Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital.

The first ship carrying 863 tons of relief goods arrived in Karachi late last month.

Speaking at the ceremony, Sangu said that despite the massive earthquakes that shook at least 10 provinces and affected 15 million people, Türkiye has not forgotten the flood victims in Pakistan.

He said that Monday's earthquakes have caused colossal losses of lives and infrastructures but the government and the people of Türkiye are facing this natural calamity with courage and fortitude.

He hailed Pakistan's government and the people for their prayers and support, especially the rescue teams that joined the ongoing relief and rescue operations in the earthquake-stricken areas.

Sangu particularly cited an incident in which Pakistani rescuers saved three precious lives in Adiyaman province.

Ibrahim Avsar and Ferit Şen from AFAD, and Karachi representative of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), Khalil Ibrahim Basaran, also attended the ceremony.

Torrential rains and unprecedented floods brought a third of this South Asian nuclear country under water in September last, affecting some 33 million people, and washing away hundreds of thousands of animals, houses, bridges, schools, hospitals, and other infrastructures.

The near-apocalyptic floods also killed over 1,700 people, in addition to causing a whopping loss of 30 billion dollars to the country's already sputtering economy.

So far, Ankara has sent 15 planes and 13 "goodness trains" loaded with relief goods, including tents, food, medicine, kitchen items, vaccine, and other supplies to the flood-hit regions.

AFAD also provided more than 30,000 tents in 19 regions, providing temporary housing to 200,000 displaced people.

The Turkish charity also set up three tent cities in Jamshoro, Dadu, and Noshehro Feroz districts of Sindh – the regions hit hard by rains and floods.