Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that the federal government has established a Rs10 billion relief fund for earthquake-hit Turkiye and urged people across Pakistan to “generously donate” for the victims.
Speaking at a ceremony at an airport in Lahore, from where relief goods are being sent to Turkiye, the premier said that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will purchase relief items from the fund and dispatch them to Turkiye.
Officials and medics said 17,674 people had died in a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and 3,377 in Syria from Monday’s tremor, bringing the confirmed total to 21,051.
In a media talk alongside Turkish Consul General to Lahore Emir Ozbay, PM Shehbaz said that thousands of people in Turkiye and Syria had died in the deadly earthquake, while millions were rendered homeless.
“The destruction of such magnitude is less seen where parents have lost their children and infants have become orphans […] there are dreadful visuals everywhere,” he noted.
However, the prime minister asserted that under the leadership of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the people of Turkiye would emerge out of the crisis. “And so will our brothers in Syria.”
More to follow
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