JEDDAH, 14 October 2005 — Saudi Arabia’s first relief flight arrived at the Chaklala Airport in Pakistan, carrying mobile hospital, mobile medical lab, and essential medical staff to the quake-hit areas.
The Pakistani authorities received the flight with the 50-bed mobile hospital, officials in Islamabad confirmed yesterday.
“Many such flights will be coming from the Kingdom as directed by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah,” Saudi Ambassador in Islamabad Ali Asseri said while handing over the field hospital, which is being located in one of the worst quake-affected areas of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Jordan is another country from this part of the world that has so far dispatched field hospital and medical staff to Pakistan. According to Asseri, other incoming flights from the Kingdom will be lifting food, medicine, tents, blankets and other essentials for the suffering quake survivors.
The International Islamic Relief Organization, Saudi Arabia (IIROSA), announced that its Pakistan office has launched an emergency relief operation for the earthquake victims.
The IIROSA has distributed five truckloads of foodstuffs including rice, sugar, cooking oil, wheat flour, other necessary relief materials as well as one truckload of mattresses.
They were delivered to the affected people in villages and cities — some of which were completely destroyed by the massive tremor.
“The most essential needs of the victims are provision of food and health care,” said IIROSA Secretary-General Dr. Adnan Khalil Basha. “IIROSA has decided to set up four camps to distribute readymade food and health care facilities to the quake victims,” he added.
The Pakistani Consulate in Jeddah has reported an enthusiastic response from the local community to the appeals for donations by President Pervez Musharraf.
The consulate sent three people to Pakistan whose families had perished in the quake, through the generosity of some local philanthropists, Welfare Consul Dr. Shoaib Akbar said.
The consulate has collected donations in cash and kind worth hundreds of thousands of riyals, he said, adding that cooked food, biscuits, milk, tents, and medicines including expensive antibiotics are being sent to Pakistan today in coordination with Pakistan International Airlines.
The consulate has set up a liaison committee of prominent Pakistanis to coordinate relief efforts.
They include Shahid (050-4792129) and Raja Farhad (050-4791846, 050-5771133, both from Jizan; Masood (050-5707789), Sardar Liaquat Hussain (050-8255284), Chaudhry Zahid Javid (050-2312949), all from Taif; Rasheed Mushtaq (050-4394678), Chaudhry Mumtaz (050-4399561) and Arshad Pervez (050-5362707), all from Yanbu; Dr. Saleem (050-8648174) from Bisha; Abdul Karim (050-3770592) from Baha; and Khalid (050-2315156) from Najran.
At the corporate level, many companies have come forward to help the quake victims. One of them is Coca-Cola, which has announced aid for the South Asian earthquake victims.
“Our system has responded promptly by making its capabilities and resources available to support the victims of this disaster,” they stated yesterday.
In areas directly affected by the earthquake, the Coca-Cola Company (CCC) and the Coca-Cola Foundation have pledged $2 million in aid — $1 million to Pakistan’s earthquake relief efforts and $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
