60 additional tons of aid being sent from US: Turkish embassy

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - An additional tranche of 60 tons of aid is being sent to Türkiye from the US to help alleviate the needs of earthquake victims, the Turkish embassy in Washington announced on Friday.

The donations are being transported by an Atlas Air 747-8F plane, with logistical assistance from Turkish Airlines, and fuel from Boeing.

Sinan Ertay, the deputy chief of mission at the Turkish embassy in Washington, said humanitarian assistance continues to pour in from across the US, especially the Turkish-American community.

“We have sent aid by air before and we continue to send it. We have more relief supplies. We deliver aid from all over the US to Türkiye by planes," he told Anadolu.

The flight departed from Washington Dulles International Airport with tons of humanitarian and relief supplies, Atlas Air said in a statement.

“Through our partnership with Turkish Airlines, we are honored to contribute air freight capacity to deliver critical supplies to this region where they are needed the most,” said John Dietrich, President and Chief Executive Officer, of Atlas Air Worldwide.

“We are moved by the heroic work of first responders and humanitarian organizations to provide relief to the communities impacted by this natural disaster. On behalf of our 5,000 Atlas employees around the world, we are grateful for this opportunity to show our support.”

At least 39,672 people were killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, the country's interior minister said Friday.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, Osmaniye, Elazig, and Sanliurfa. More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of less than 10 hours.