NEW DELHI, India / ANKARA, Türkiye
India has dispatched the second batch of earthquake relief material on an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft to Türkiye after two strong earthquakes jolted the southern part of the country, an official said Tuesday.
“Second @IAF_MCC(Indian Air Force) C-17 with self-contained @NDRFHQ(National Disaster Response Force) teams including dog squads, search & rescue equipment, extrication tools and vehicles leaves for Türkiye,” tweeted Arindam Bagchi, the spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
“India continues to support the people of Türkiye in their hour of need,” he added.
The Indian military also said on Tuesday that it has mobilized an 89-member medical team to southern Turkey, which has been devastated by two massive earthquakes.
“The team comprises Medical Specialists & is equipped with X-ray Machines, Ventilators, Oxygen Generation Plants, Cardiac Monitors & associated equipment, to establish a 30 bedded medical facility,” the military wrote on Twitter.
Earlier in the morning, India’s Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the first Indian C17 flight with more than 50 National Disaster Response Force search and rescue personnel, specially trained dog squads, drilling machines, relief material, medicines, and other necessary utilities and equipment reached Adana, Türkiye.
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday that he is anguished by the loss of lives and damage to property due to the earthquakes and that India is “ready to offer all possible assistance to cope with this tragedy,” the government announced that two teams of the NDRF comprising 100 personnel with specially trained dog squads and necessary equipment were ready to be flown to the earthquake-hit areas for search and rescue operations.