Turkey earthquake: IndiGo offers free cargo movement

NEW DELHI: The government of India has called an urgent meeting with Indian carriers that operate flights to Turkey, in the aftermath of earthquakes in the western Asian country.

During the meeting, India's low-cost airline IndiGo offered free cargo movement to Istanbul on its scheduled flights.

The Indian aviation regulator has held a meeting with Indian carriers over operating flights to Turkey for cargo movements in commercial scheduled flights.

IndiGo has offered free cargo movement on its scheduled commercial flights using Boeing 777 aircraft to Istanbul." an aviation industry source told ANI. Recently Indigo started its wide-body flight operation to Turkey in Istanbul by Boeing-777.

" The Indian carrier colony is with Turkey in the disaster and we are ready to provide free cargo movement for humanitarian aid," sources quoted the airline company as saying in the meeting.

Other ministries are also part of the meeting and a final decision is yet to be taken in this regard.

The first Indian Air Force plane carrying disaster relief material and rescue team to carry out search and rescue efforts in Turkey has reached Adana in the earthquake-hit country, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.

The C17 flight with over 50 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and a specially trained dog squad along with necessary equipment, including medical supplies, drilling machines and other equipment required for the aid efforts departed for Turkey early this morning.

Turkish Embassy in New Delhi tweeted, "First batch of earthquake relief material along with NDRF's special search and rescue teams and trained dog squads just arrived in Turkiye.

Thank you India for your support and solidarity." Meanwhile, nearly 4,900 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, according to officials, reported CNN.

Turkey's death toll rose to at least 3,381 as of around 9:45 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Orhan Tatar, an official with the country's disaster management agency, said in a televised briefing.

At least 20,426 injuries have also been reported, according to Tatar. Meanwhile in Syria, the death toll has risen to 1,509 across areas controlled by the government and by the opposition, officials said, reported CNN.