Pakistan has sent an urban search and rescue team to cyclone-affected Sri Lanka, where severe flooding and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah They have claimed more than 400 lives.
According Radio PakistanA Pakistan Air Force C-130 aircraft carrying a 47-member team along with 6.5 tonnes of essential equipment left to participate in humanitarian and rescue efforts.
Speaking at a relief farewell ceremony 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 people affected by the cyclone in Sri Lanka.
He stated that Pakistan and its government stood in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka. The NDMA president further said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir had extended “all support” to help those affected.
“Pakistan has committed all its support since November 28, when the cyclone hit Sri Lanka,” he said. He said a Pakistan Navy ship in the area was immediately tasked to stay with the Sri Lankan government and evacuate people stranded in the rains.
The NDMA president said Cyclone Ditwah was “unfortunate and unprecedented” because a decrease in the number of hurricanes had previously been observed in the South Pacific, and more cyclone-related activity was observed in the southern Indian Ocean and southern Arabian Sea.
He said the urban search and rescue team sent for assistance was a “very competent military team” that also had experience in being a key search and rescue partner for other teams in the recent past. He said the team will remain on the field as long as necessary.
Malik said the government had also yesterday sent 200 tonnes of cargo assistance to Sri Lanka that would leave Karachi on a commercial container ship.
“The prime minister has also promised additional support from Pakistan if required,” he added.
Malik also said that climate change threatened “all nations equally,” and stated that now was the time to “gather global knowledge” on early warning systems.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry also spoke at the press conference and expressed his “deepest condolences” to Sri Lanka on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan.
He added that another shipment of aid would be sent from Lahore, where planes from Sri Lanka would arrive, and an additional shipment from Karachi.
“Everything possible will be done for the government of Pakistan,” said the Sri Lankan ambassador, who was also present at the ceremony.
“We are with you in these trying times,” he said.
