Singapore to donate US$200,000 to support relief efforts for Türkiye-Syria quake
Rubble from destroyed buildings scattered following an earthquake in Samandag, southern Turkey, Feb 22, 2023. (Photo: AP/Emrah Gurel)
SINGAPORE: Singapore will contribute US$200,000 (S$270,000) to support ongoing humanitarian relief and reconstruction efforts in earthquake-devastated Türkiye and Syria.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Friday (Feb 24) that Singapore will donate US$100,000 to Türkiye through the Singapore Red Cross charity and US$100,000 to a United Nations Humanitarian Appeal for Syria which was launched on Feb 14.
“We hope that these contributions will help the peoples of Türkiye and Syria recover from the aftermath of this devastating disaster,” the MFA spokesperson said.
The massive Feb 6 tremor has killed more than 45,000 people and experts expect the toll to rise as the rubble is cleared and rescue operations end.
More than 6,200 aftershocks have been recorded and on Monday, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked Türkiye's southern province as well as northern Syria, killing six people and sparking fresh panic.
Officials have said that aftershocks would be felt for a year because of the force of the first tremor.
MFA's contributions follow a recently concluded deployment of a 68-member rescue team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
The SCDF's Operation Lionheart contingent was sent to Türkiye for 10 days, with an advance group of 20 arriving on Feb 8 and a second team following on Feb 10.
On the ground, they were involved in two successful rescues, extracting a 12-year-old boy from the rubble of a three-storey building and helping to locate a man trapped in a semi-collapsed building.
