Several Pakistani charities scrambled to collect funds and relief goods for the victims of Monday’s massive earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria that killed thousands of people. Al-Khidmat Foundation, one of the country’s largest relief and rescue organizations, has set up a special fund for the earthquake victims, calling upon Pakistanis to donate “generously.”
At least 8,574 people were killed and 49,133 others injured after two strong earthquakes jolted southern Türkiye on Monday, the country’s disaster agency said on Wednesday.
Besides, at least 2,530 people were killed and hundreds injured in Syria in the series of powerful earthquakes centered in southern Türkiye that jolted the wider region, according to figures compiled on Wednesday.“The government and the people of Türkiye have always helped us (Pakistanis) in every trying time, particularly in the recent massive floods,” Dr. Hafeez-ur-Rehman, president of Al-Khidmat Foundation, told Anadolu.
He was referring to the massive floods that inundated a third of the South Asian country in September last, apart from killing over 1,700 people and washing away hundreds of thousands of houses, buildings, hospitals, schools, animals, and other infrastructures.
Several Turkish charities, primarily the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, and Turkish Red Crescent have been carrying out a number of relief projects in the flood-hit areas from the very first day.Al-Khidmat Foundation, which partnered with TIKA, Turkish Red Crescent, and AFAD to carry out several projects in the flood-hit areas, has already sent its first batch of volunteers along with relief goods to the quake-stricken areas in Türkiye.
The volunteers, according to Rehman, are working in coordination with Hyrat Foundation, a Turkish non-governmental organization, in different earthquake-stricken areas.
“We are in close coordination with TIKA, which requires trained relief and rescue workers. Al-Khidmat is selecting its contingent of trained volunteers to help TIKA in the quake-hit areas,” he maintained.
The foundation has designated all its offices for the collection of relief goods and funds for the quake victims.The relief goods consignments will be sent to Türkiye with the help of the Turkish Embassy, Turkish Airlines, and Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Rehman went on to say.A medical team, he added, along with medical supplies is set to depart for Türkiye in a day or two.’Time to pay back’Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has already set up a relief fund for the earthquake victims.
Islamabad has also sent the first batch of relief items, which included tents, medicines, blankets, and other goods, along with a 50-member rescue team to the earthquake-hit areas through two aircraft.In a separate appeal, Siraj-ul-Haq, a former senator and chief of Jamat-e-Islami, the country’s mainstream religious party, called upon Pakistanis to “donate for their Turkish brethren.””Turkish people have stood alongside us in every thick and thin. it’s now our turn to pay them back in the same coin,” Haq, who is also the patron-in-chief of the Al-Khidmat Foundation, said.
