LONDON: Britain’s King Charles met volunteers from the Turkish and Syrian diasporas in London on Tuesday to express his support after more than 37,000 people died and thousands left homeless by the recent earthquake in Turkiye and north-west Syria.
Charles shook hands with charity workers during a visit to West London Turkish Volunteers (WLTV), and chatted with them as they packed scarves, blankets, jumpers, and packets of biscuits as part of earthquake relief efforts.
He also formally launched Syria’s House, a temporary Syrian community tent in Trafalgar Square in central London, where he met the capital’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, among others.
Britain dispatched 76 search-and-rescue specialists and equipment as an immediate response to the disaster on Feb. 6, and has since set out further support, including items such as tents and blankets. The combined death toll has now crossed 37,000.
After the disaster Charles said he “wanted to convey our deepest and most heartfelt sympathy to the families of all those who have lost their loved ones.”
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which represents 15 aid charities in the United Kingdom, has also appealed for donations and has raised 60 million pounds ($73 million)o far, including “a generous donation” from the royal family, the DEC said. ($1 = 0.8218 pounds)
Britain’s King Charles meets Turkiye-Syria earthquake volunteers
https://arab.news/2kxwy
Britain’s King Charles meets Turkiye-Syria earthquake volunteers
- Charles shook hands with charity workers during a visit to West London Turkish Volunteers, chatted with them
- He also formally launched Syria's House, a temporary Syrian community tent in Trafalgar Square in central London
Helicopter crashes in Libya during medical evacuation, killing 3
- The Matan Al-Sarra air base lies in an area under the control of Libya’s Benghazi-based eastern administration led by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, but authorities in the east did not comment on the crash
TRIPOLI: A helicopter has crashed in southeastern Libya, killing a medic and two crew members carrying out a medical evacuation, state media said Tuesday.
Libyan news agency LANA said the chopper went down overnight near an air base in the Kufra region about 60 kilometers north of the border between Libya and Chad.
The aircraft was attempting to evacuate a soldier who had been involved in a road accident in the desert, LANA said.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known and it was unclear what happened to the injured soldier.
Libyan media reports said two foreign nationals were among those on board who were killed, but this was not confirmed by authorities.
The Matan Al-Sarra air base lies in an area under the control of Libya’s Benghazi-based eastern administration led by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, but authorities in the east did not comment on the crash.
Libya remains split between the eastern administration and a UN-backed government in the west led by Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah. The LANA news agency is under the control of western authorities.
Libya has struggled to recover from chaos that erupted following a 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Qaddafi.
