FP Staff Report
KARACHI: The first charter flight to bring UK aid directly arrived at Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah international airport Monday night.
The flight is the 10th supplied by the British Government since the monsoon floods in Pakistan began. Previous flights landed in Islamabad and Multan, an official of the UK Deputy High Commission in Karachi said on Tuesday.
The plane, an Antonov, the world's largest commercial aircraft, was loaded at East Midlands airport and carried water and sanitation equipment, which is to be distributed by humanitarian NGOs to victims in the worst flood affected areas of Pakistan, including Sindh and Punjab.
The vital aid on board the aircraft includes; 18,800 water containers (jerry cans and buckets) for families to store clean water, water purification tablets for purifying 340 million water litres.
DFID also carried aid supplies for Oxfam and International Health Partnership free of charge.
George Turkington, Head of DFID Pakistan, said: "The situation in southern Pakistan remains critical. High tides in the Arabian Sea and the clay soil in the region mean that flood waters will remain standing for some time. Huge areas remain submerged, houses are uninhabitable, and five million people had to leave their homes in the southern province of Sindh alone.
UK was one of the first countries to respond to the crisis. UK Government has committed pounds 64 million (approx 8.5 billion rupees) to help people in Pakistan affected by the floods, while the British public has generously donated a further pound 42 million (more than 5.5 billion rupees) to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).
This will help millions of people in Pakistan access safe drinking water, toilets, emergency shelter, health care, and other essential items.