Saudi Arabia sends 11th aid plane to earthquake-hit Türkiye
Humanitarian aid relief packages provided by Saudi Arabia for victims of the Feb. 6 earthquake are unloaded from an Ilyushin Il-76TD transport aircraft at Aleppo International Airport in northern Syria, Feb. 14, 2023. (AFP Photo)


Saudi Arabia Wednesday announced it is sending an 11th plane carrying aid for victims affected by last week’s major earthquakes in southern Türkiye.

According to Saudi Arabia’s official news agency SPA, the plane left King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh for Gaziantep province. The plane carried aid materials including blankets, tents and food.

Following the deadly earthquakes, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center launched a donation drive on Feb. 8 for the quake victims in Türkiye and Syria.

Over 362 million riyals (nearly $96 million) have been collected so far as part of the drive, according to the Saudi government's Sahem Platform, which is responsible for the donation campaign.

Besides, Saudi Arabia plans to set up 3,000 temporary houses for the victims.

The oil-rich kingdom has also dispatched 95 rescue workers, 55 medical personnel, and two delegations representing the Saudi Red Crescent and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center. At least 35,418 people have been killed and 105,505 injured in the earthquakes that rocked southern Türkiye last week, according to the latest figures.

On Feb. 6, the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes struck southern Türkiye, centered in Kahramanmaras and shaking nine other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Adıyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakır, Kilis, Osmaniye and Şanlıurfa, affecting over 13 million people.