By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) - Flag carrier Turkish Airlines evacuated nearly 300,000 people from Türkiye’s earthquake-hit southern region so far, an official announced on Tuesday.
"We evacuated a total of 296,819 citizens by 1,646 flights," Yahya Ustun, Turkish Airlines’ senior vice president for media relations, said on Twitter.
The airline operated 1,667 flights to bring the search-rescue and aid teams to the earthquake zone.
More than 41,000 people were killed by the back-to-back quakes in southern Türkiye, according to the latest official figures. Thousands of others were injured.
Over 13 million people have been affected by the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes that were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Adiyaman, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.
"Allocating all its operations to the transportation of aid materials, Turkish Cargo dispatched 12,498 (3,259 domestic, 9,239 international) tons of aid materials namely medicine, food, clothes, generators, hygiene kits, blankets and tents to the earthquake-hit region with 208 cargo flights," Ustun said.
On Tuesday, the airline is planning to evacuate 14,454 people through 81 flights from the region.
"Free reservation for our evacuation flights will continue until March 1," he added.