RIYADH: Syrians displaced by last week's deadly earthquake have begun to receive vital aid and shelter assistance brought by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.
The KSrelief, working under the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was urgently directed to launch an airbridge to provide food, shelter materials and medical equipment to Turkiye-Syria quake victims.
One of the center’s main goals in Syria is to ensure that the essential needs of all survivors in Jindires, a town badly stricken by the quake, are fulfilled.
“They were assisted by setting up camps and tents and supplying them with food baskets and non-food items, then mobile clinics were set up,” Muhammad Al-Jisri, Team Director of the Al-Ameen organization, told Arab News.
With over 400 residential buildings reduced to rubble in Syria, up to 5.3 million may need some form of shelter assistance, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Yasser Tarraf, General Coordinator of the Secretary Organization, is on the ground processing the 11 trucks that have entered through the Hamam crossing on the Syria-Turkey border.
He shared with Arab News the initial plan his team devised for the shipment route.
“This aid or these supplies consist of raw materials that are currently being distributed in Idlib and Afrin in the first phase.”
He continued: “In later phases, there will be continuous support until the Syrian community or the Syrian North recovers and becomes a good environment at all levels.”
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Turkiye and Syria on Monday has so far claimed the lives of over 36,000 people, with death tolls expected to rise.
Most of the quake damage in Syria struck the north and northwestern region, insurgent-held territories partitioned by the 12-year conflict. The aftershock killed more than 4,300 people in the area, and injured more than 7,500.
The Kingdom has drawn gratitude from several global players for its rapid response to the Turkiye-Syria earthquake.
In an official statement, Turkiye's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, thanked the “brotherly country” and noted that it was one of the first states to support his nation.
KSrelief has also launched a national campaign through the “Sahem'” platform to help quake victims. The initiative proved popular and attracted over one million donors who have collectively raised over SR325 million ($86 million).
