Pakistan sends urban search and rescue team to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka – Pakistan
Pakistan has sent an urban search and rescue team to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka, where severe flooding and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah have claimed more than 400 lives.
According to Radio Pakistan, a Pakistan Air Force C-130 aircraft carrying a 47-member team along with 6.5 tons of essential equipment has departed to participate in the humanitarian and rescue efforts.
Speaking at a ceremony for seeing off the aid in Islamabad on Wednesday morning, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik said the urban search and rescue team was being sent to help the people affected by the cyclone in Sri Lanka.
He asserted that Pakistan and its government stood in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka. The NDMA chairman further said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir had directed “full-out support” to assist those affected.
“Pakistan has committed all-out support since November 28 when the cyclone impacted Sri Lanka,” he said. He said that a Pakistan Navy ship that was in the area was immediately tasked with staying with the Sri Lankan government and evacuating those people stranded in the rains.
The NDMA chairman said that Cyclone Ditwah was “unfortunate and unprecedented” because a decline had previously been observed in hurricanes in South Pacific, with more cyclone-related activity being witnessed in the southern Indian Ocean and southern Arabian Sea.
He said that the urban search and rescue team being sent for assistance was a “very competent military team” that was also experienced in being a key search and rescue partner for other teams in the recent past. He said the team will remain in the field as long as required.
Malik said the government had also dispatched 200 tons of cargo assistance for Sri Lanka yesterday that would sail out from Karachi via a commercial container ship.
“The prime minister has also committed additional support from Pakistan if required,” he added.
Malik also said that climate change was threatening “all nations alike”, saying this was the time to “collate global knowledge” on early warning systems.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry also spoke at the press conference, extending his “deepest condolences” to Sri Lanka on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan.
He added that another aid consignment would be sent from Lahore, where Sri Lankan planes were to arrive, and an additional consignment would be sent from Karachi.
“Everything that is possible for the government of Pakistan to do will be done,” he assured the Sri Lankan ambassador, who was also present at the ceremony.
“We stand with you in these testing times,” he said.
