12th 'Kindness Train' carrying aid departs for flood-hit Pakistan
A woman walks at a camp after leaving her flood-hit home, in Jaffarabad, a district of Baluchistan province, Pakistan, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (AP)


The latest "Kindness Train" carrying humanitarian aid to disaster-hit Pakistan departed from Türkiye's northwestern Kocaeli province Saturday.

The 12th train is loaded with humanitarian aid materials prepared with the support of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) under the coordination of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

According to a statement by the local governor's office, over 768 tons of humanitarian aid material was packed onto the "Kindness Train" consisting of 28 wagons at the Köseköy Logistics Directorate.

Deputy Governor Abdul Rauf Ulusoy, whose views were included in the statement, said that trains responding to the flood disaster continue to depart from Kocaeli to Pakistan, a friendly and brotherly country.

The official noted that while the initial target was to deliver 55,000 parcels, as of today, 62,000 have been sent to Pakistan, adding: "Hopefully, with the program prepared for the next week, this target will be revised to 72,000."

"In other words, we, as a region, have exceeded the number of parcels given to us in the Marmara region. We would like to express our gratitude to our neighboring provinces, industrialists in our province, AFAD employees, TCDD, and everyone who contributed to the delivery of these parcels to our province."

The current monsoon season that struck Pakistan in mid-June has inundated one-third of the country and killed over 1,400 people, according to the country's National Disaster Management Authority.

Over 33 million people of the country's 220 million population have been displaced by the latest downpours and flooding in all four provinces since mid-June, in addition to causing a staggering $30 billion in damages to the already weakened infrastructures.