The Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations has finished loading an Ilyushin Il-76 plane with relief goods for Sri Lanka. Following the request of the Sri Lanka’s Government and in accordance with the order of the Russian Government the plane will shortly take off from Moscow for Colombo to deliver some 32 tons of relief supplies to the population of Sri Lanka affected by flooding. The plane is carrying mobile power stations, tents and cutlery.
According to local authorities, the flooding left more than 150 people dead, while over 3,000 more had to flee their homes.
Earlier, Russian Minister for Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov send the Sri Lanka’s Disaster Relief Minister a telegram offering condolences and expressing readiness to assist in coping with the impact of the tropical cyclone.
The Russian Emergency Ministry helped Sri Lanka after a devastating tsunami hit the country in 2004. Russian rescuers were sent to the disaster area then and Tsentrospas’s airmobile hospital helped thousands of the injured in 2005.