Nine Turkish planes loaded with relief supplies have arrived in flood-hit Pakistan, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday.
To date Türkiye has sent 7,120 family-size tents, nearly 8,000 blankets and pillows, 11,314 food packets, 2,000 baby food and hygiene packages, 1,320 boxes of clothing, 426,000 medical supplies, over 1,000 kitchen sets, 50 motor boats and nearly 4,000 various types of food via nine planes and a train, the ministry said on Twitter.
A second train carrying more relief supplies will also leave the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday bound for Pakistan.
Additionally, some 20 Turkish personnel, including 11 Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) staffers, a three-person medical team and six Turkish nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are participating in humanitarian efforts in the flood-hit country.
Earlier, Pakistan's National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) announced that more than 1,000 people had lost their lives due to the floods and landslides caused by monsoon rains that have been ongoing since June 14. It reported that 992,871 houses had been damaged due to the heavy rains and 727,144 farm animals had perished, adding that approximately 33 million people were affected by the rains and 498,442 people were living in the aid camps.
Torrential rains and raging floods have destroyed large amounts of infrastructure and agricultural lands across the country, including tens of thousands of houses, roads and bridges, and washed away nearly a million animals.
According to state meteorologists, the South Asian country, which is among the 10 nations in the world most vulnerable to climate change, has received over 200% more rain this year than average monsoon showers.
In addition, the AFAD announced the establishment of an "air bridge" to provide tents and humanitarian aid to Pakistan, which was hit by heavy floods.
Humanitarian aid materials consisting of 10,000 tents, 50,000 food parcels, 50,000 hygiene materials and 10,000 parcels of baby food were sent to the flood areas in the first stage, the AFAD said.
Meanwhile, humanitarian aid prepared with the support of NGOs under the coordination of the AFAD was sent from Ankara to Pakistan aboard the "Kindness Train."
Turkish diplomats will go to Pakistan
Türkiye's Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum will go to Pakistan on Thursday.
According to the information received from the sources, Soylu and Kurum, as well as AFAD head Yunus Sezer, head of the Housing Development Administration of Türkiye (TOKİ) Ömer Bulut and representatives of nongovernmental organizations will be present in the delegation, which will go to the region upon the instruction of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The delegation will determine the humanitarian aid works and needs in the region affected by monsoon rains on the spot.