India sends 2nd consignment of relief material to Türkiye

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.

A senior Indian minister visited the Turkish Embassy in New Delhi on Monday to express condolences over the devastation caused by the earthquakes.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said his country is ready to help Türkiye and deploy a military contingent of 300 personnel, including the Army Medical and Engineers corps, according to local media Lankaxpress.

On Monday, Sabry said he contacted his Turkish counterpart and offered search and rescue assistance in the areas affected by two powerful earthquakes.

"On the instructions of HE President,I contacted Hon.FM of Türkiye and offered assistance for search & rescue. We recall when the Tsunami struck us in 2004, Türkiye provided immediate humanitarian assistance & built a housing complex for those who lost their houses," he tweeted.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry expressed condolences to Türkiye following the massive earthquake.

Meanwhile, the Philippines’ Office of Civil Defense on Tuesday announced sending a search and rescue team to join relief operations in Türkiye.

At least 3,381 people were killed and 20,426 others injured in 10 provinces of Türkiye due to two strong earthquakes that jolted the southern part of the country, an official from the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said early Tuesday.

Early Monday morning, a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province. It strongly shook several other provinces, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay and Kilis.

Then at 13.24 p.m. (1024GMT), a 7.6 magnitude quake centered in Kahramanmaras’s Elbistan district struck the region.