As the first international aid group in Syria’s Jinderis, BCF delivers 250 tons of aid

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) has delivered around 250 tons of aid, including medical emergency kits and foot, to one of the hardest-hit areas in Syria’s northwest, according to the group.

The BCF is the first international agency to have arrived in the quake-stricken town of Jindris, according to the aid group's officials.

As the result of last Monday’s powerful 7.8 earthquake and its deadly aftershocks that had killed over 24,000 people in both Syria and Turkey, Jinderis soon emerged as one of the cities that had suffered the most devastations, with some estimating 80 percent of the town had been leveled.

Twelve BCF trucks loaded with 250 tons of medical kits, food, heating stove, and blankets arrived in the town on Saturday, according to Kurdistan 24’s correspondent Islam Yousif on the ground. 

The Kurdish aid group is opening its office in the Afrin district, to which Jinderis administratively belongs, to help the locals in overcoming the devastation, according to footage showing the head of the group speaking to the locals.

Nearly 500 tents are expected to arrive in Afrin soon, another BCF official told Kurdistan 24 in Jinderis. 

The town is experiencing power and internet blackouts as the infrastructure has been seriously damaged by the powerful quake, Yousif said. 

Hundreds of displaced residents of the town, controlled by the Turkish-backed rebel groups, have been only provided with a few tents that cannot accommodate the IDPs in the freezing cold, the correspondent said. 

Analysts say Turkey is better positioned compared to Syria in dealing with similar disasters, as the country had better emergency response experience. The Arab country had already been rocked by a 12-year-long civil war, leaving much of the country in a dilapidated state.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) dispatched medical and rescue teams last week to Turkey’s affected areas. So far, they have recovered 62 dead bodies and rescued a number of civilians under the rubble of the ruined buildings.

Donation campaigns have been similarly launched by the KRG and other local agencies across the Kurdistan Region to collect aid for the victims of the earthquake in both countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday expressed his gratitude for the sympathies that the Region had shown to Turkey during the crisis in a phone call with President Masoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Established in 2005 by the Region’s current Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, the BCF provides food, cash, and medical assistance to regions and places struck by emergencies, including natural disasters.