UAE sends humanitarian aid to help earthquake victims in Afghanistan

Relief planes carrying food and medical supplies took off on Friday

Urgent medical supplies and food is loaded on to plane bound for Afghanistan to help with earthquake relief efforts. Photo: Wam

The UAE sent further aid to Afghanistan on Friday to help victims of the earthquakes that have killed thousands of people.

Several planes took off from the Emirates in the morning, carrying food and medical supplies for those affected by the quakes, state news agency Wam reported.

“The provision of these supplies is part of the UAE's enduring efforts to extend urgent relief to countries affected by natural disasters and deliver critical support to countries and people around the world in times of crisis,” stated Wam.

“Many relief institutions in the UAE contributed to providing supplies to assist those affected by the earthquakes' impact, which has exacerbated the current humanitarian situation.”

The latest relief effort follows a flight from the UAE on Tuesday, carrying 33 tonnes of food for those affected by Saturday's earthquake.

Aid was delivered then through a number of Emirati humanitarian organisations, including the Emirates Red Crescent, the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, and the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, in co-ordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“This urgent relief shipment of food supplies, sent as part of a collaboration between the UAE's humanitarian and charity organisations, is in line with our efforts to provide urgent supplies to other countries during times of crisis, especially natural disasters,” said Sultan Al Shamsi, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Development and International Organisations Affairs, on Tuesday.

“Such crises result in significant shortages of food and medical supplies, and require a rapid response to support affected people, especially women, children and the elderly.”

Devastating impact

It was estimated that thousands of people died across the Herat region in Saturday's initial 6.3-magnitude quake.

Taliban officials said the death toll was at least 2,400 people with about 2,000 injured.

Survivors and volunteers said they were having to use bulldozers to dig graves for hundreds of victims.

Another 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck on Wednesday about 28 kilometres outside the city of Herat.

While there were no reports of deaths, it was said to have caused injured dozens of people and damaged hundreds of homes.

Afghanistan earthquake - in pictures