After transporting experienced response teams to Hatay, Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş, the provinces most severely damaged by the two major earthquakes on Monday, the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) continues to provide services in many areas, from shelter to nutrition.
Tents sent to the southeastern region of Türkiye after massive earthquakes Monday are being set up under the direction of the Turkish Red Cresent with the support of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and volunteers to offer shelter to the disaster's victims.
In addition to the tents for 10,000 people sent to the region, additional shipments of tents, blankets, heaters, clothes and food from central warehouses and surrounding provinces continue to arrive.
The Red Crescent is also providing meals with 77 catering vehicles, 16 mobile kitchens, five field kitchens, two mobile ovens and one container kitchen in earthquake-affected areas.
According to reports, the Turkish Red Crescent provided meals to approximately 200,000 people in the first 24 hours of the disaster.
On the first day of the disaster, the Turkish Red Crescent also supplied the blood and blood products needed for regional hospitals with its current stock and called on the public for blood donations to keep up with the demand. The number of voluntary blood donations on the first day exceeded 40,000 units.
The Turkish Red Crescent has reiterated that blood is a treatment tool that cannot be stored for long periods and warned that blood donations should be spread over days. The organization also noted units would continue to accept blood donations according to the country's needs on Tuesday and in the coming days.
''Our Red Crescent blood teams received 40,000 units, twice our daily capacity, today. We will make lab tests, process this blood and send them to hospitals by Tuesday morning. We will give our team a short break and start again at noon tomorrow,'' Kerem Kınık, the chairperson of the Turkish Red Crescent wrote on his Twitter account late Monday.
Meanwhile, other organizations, with the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) taking the lead, continue to expand their support and presence in heavily affected areas. The AFAD stated that its 24,443 personnel are on duty in the regions affected by the earthquake.
Cargo services, mainly Yurtiçi Cargo, announced that it would carry earthquake aid to Kahramanmaraş and surrounding cities free of charge Monday evening.
Yurtiçi Cargo, which continues to work in coordination with the Ministry of Family and Social Services, the AFAD and the Turkish Red Crescent after the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş and the surrounding provinces, stated that it has started to receive earthquake aid from its branches all over Türkiye. Citizens who want to send help packages to the earthquake area can bring their packaged aid to any branch of the cargo company.
National carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) General Manager Bilal Ekşi also announced that 11,780 volunteer citizens were transported to the earthquake region with 80 flights.