Troops deliver 80 tonnes of aid to Sumatra

3 February 2005

MADRID- Spanish planes have distributed more than 80 tonnes of aid in 36 missions to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, one of the areas worst hit by the tsunami, the ministry of defence said.
 
The ministry added the mission would end on 26 March in line with the express wishes of the Indonesian authorities.

Spain began flying out aid to the stricken region on 18 January and the country’s air force has since spent more than 200 hours airborne distributing first aid, food, water and medicine as part of Madrid’s “solidarity response” mission.

The disaster, which struck 11 countries, left almost 240,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia alone and left an estimated 400,000 homeless.

“The best thing about this work is the thanks and the smiles of the Indonesians as they receive the aid we have brought in,” the ministry quoted mission spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Rodriguez as saying.

Last month, Spanish television announced that a campaign to donate money raised from text messages in support of the aid effort had raised EUR  11.4 million (USD 13m), two thirds from text messages and the remainder from separate telephone donations.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news