Saudis donate over $126 million for quake victims in Türkiye, Syria

By Ibrahim El-Khazen

ANKARA (AA) – More than two million people have participated in a popular donation campaign in Saudi Arabia that has collected over 474 million riyals ($126.4 million) for the victims of last month’s devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

The campaign saw the participation of 2,030,561 people, according to data released by the Saudi government’s Sahem Platform, which is responsible for the popular campaign for relief of the quake victims in the two countries.

The donation campaign was launched on Feb. 8, by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, a day after King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman directed the center to operate an air bridge and organize a popular campaign to support Türkiye and Syria in the wake of the earthquake disaster.

The frequent update of the campaign platform shows a remarkable increase in the number of participants and the value of donations since its launch.

At least 45,968 people were killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6.

Magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.

In neighboring Syria, over 5,900 people have been killed in the earthquakes.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report.