India to send two more IAF planes with rescue personnel, relief materials to quake-hit Turkey

India will send two more C17 Indian Air Force planes to Turkey later this evening with 60 Para Field Hospital and personnel to assist in rescue and relief operationsAccording to defence officials the Agrabased Army Field Hospital has despatched an 89member medical teamThe medical team comprises critical care specialist teams including Orthopaedic Surgical Team General Surgical Specialist Team Medical Specialist Teams apart from other medical teams The teams are equipped with Xray machines ventilators Oxygen generation plant Cardiac monitors and associated equipment to establish a 30 bedded medical facilityMeanwhile the first batch of aid from India which took off from the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad early this morning reached Adana in TurkeyThe Indian Air Force tweeted on Tuesday that a C17 a strategic transport aircraft left for Turkey bearing search and rescue teams of the National Disaster Response Force NDRFAlso Read Death toll from earthquake in Turkey and Syria surpasses 3800According to Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi earlier said Indias Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief HADR capabilities were put into action The 1st batch of earthquake relief material leaves for Turkiye along with NDRF Search amp Rescue Teams specially trained dog squads medical supplies drilling machines amp other necessary equipment he tweetedUnder HADR operations for Turkey and Syria India dispatched the first C17 airborne for Turkey at 0309 am today while the second C17 took off around 1000 hrs with National Disaster Response Force NDRF teamThe aircraft is part of a larger relief effort that will be undertaken by the IAF along with other Indian organisations said the Indian Air ForceThe aid to Syrian has been meanwhile delayed with a C130 flight for Damascus with medicines only and no personnel delayed to this afternoonAs per latest estimates over 4372 people have been killed and thousands injured after a magnitude 78 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria early Monday according to officials and agenciesTurkey and Syria were hit by three consecutive devastating earthquakes of magnitude 78 76 and 60 on Monday reported Washington PostRescuers in both countries are digging with their bare hands through the freezing night hunting for survivors among the rubble of thousands of buildingsThe quake one of the strongest to hit the region in more than 100 years struck 23 kilometres 142 miles east of Nurdagi in Turkeys Gaziantep province at a depth of 241 kilometres 149 miles the US Geological Survey saidPrime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences with the Prime Ministers Office saying that a meeting was held on Monday in which it was decided that relief material would be dispatched immediately in coordination with the Turkish governmentTwo teams of NDRF comprising 100 personnel with specially trained dog squads and necessary equipment are ready to be flown to the earthquakehit area for search and rescue operations the statement saidMedical teams are also being readied with trained doctors and paramedics with essential medicines Relief material will be dispatched in coordination with the Government of Turkiye and Indian Embassy in Ankara and Consulate General office in Istanbul it addedIndias Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar also extended his condolences tweeting Monday night that he had contacted his Syrian counterpart Faisal MekdadExpressed solidarity and conveyed our support including through supply of medicines he tweetedInitially a magnitude 78 quake struck early Monday at 0417 local time 0117 GMT 23 kilometers 142 miles east of Nurdagi in Turkeys Gaziantep province near the Syrian border at a depth of 241 kilometers 149 miles the US Geological Survey saidThis was followed by a 75magnitude quake around 130 kilometres north of Gaziantep and with epicentre was in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province in Turkey according to the US Geological Survey Tremors were also felt in several neighboring countries including Lebanon and SyriaThe third earthquake of magnitude 60 on the Richter scale hit Goksun Turkey on Monday The earthquake felt as far away as Lebanon Jordan Israel and Egypt occurred in Kahramanmaras province north of Gaziantep near the Syrian borderAt least 100 aftershocks measuring 40 or greater have occurred since the 78 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey on Monday morning local timeAs the time from the original earthquake extends the frequency and magnitude of the aftershocks tend to decrease However 50 to 60plus aftershocks are still likely to occur and bring a risk of additional damage to structures that are compromised from the original earthquake This brings a continued threat to rescue teams and survivors reported CNNThe aftershocks stretch for more than 300 kilometres 186 miles along the fault zone that ruptured in southern Turkey oriented from southwest to northeast and stretching from the border with Syria up through the province of 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