UAE: 22 aid planes airlift 640 tonnes of relief supplies for quake-affected people in Syria, Turkey

The UAE has airlifted 640 tonnes of relief supplies in a humanitarian operation called 'Gallant Knight/2' to aid those affected by the earthquake in Syria and Turkey. The airbridge has carried out 22 flights, including 7 to Syria that carried food assistance and 515 tents.

Additionally, 15 flights have been operated to Turkey to fly rescue and search teams, as well as a 50-bed field hospital equipped with emergency departments, operation theatres, an intensive care unit, outpatient clinics, inpatient wards, a laboratory, a pharmacy, and X-ray and CT services.

The hospital will be staffed by medical teams specialising in orthopedics, general surgery, anesthesia, intensive care, and technicians from various medical specialties. The operation was launched under the directives of the UAE leadership to provide assistance to the earthquake-affected people in both Syria and Turkey.

Scores of families in Turkey and Syria scampered out into the streets in freezing temperatures as a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked the region on Monday morning, killing more than 19,300 people.

• Watch: UAE crew saves Syrian mother, her children from under the rubble in Turkey earthquake