Second Shipment Of Indonesian Aid Arrives In Nepal

Kathmandu, May 2 (Antara) - A second shipment of Indonesian aid for victims of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake in Nepal arrived at Tribhuvan airport in Kathmando on Saturday morning. The 30 tons of humanitarian aid, along with a 33-member humanitarian relief team from the Indonesian National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Foreign Affairs Ministry office, and journalists, arrived in Kathmandu aboard a chartered Garuda Indonesia aircraft. The humanitarian relief team was greeted by the director of the BNPB emergency response, Junjunan Tambunan, Foreign Affairs Ministry director for Central and South Asia Amin Wicaksono, and the chief of the Indonesian safety and evacuation team, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Indan Gilang. According to Tambunan, the second humanitarian aid shipment from Indonesia was made up of medical supplies, tents, body bags, fast food, breast-milk substitutes, water purification supplies, and medicine. "The second humanitarian aid shipment, which arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday morning, was the largest from Indonesia," Tambunan said, adding that the third, to be transported by a military Hercules plane, will arrive later on Saturday evening, with the fourth shipment arriving on Sunday. Earlier on Wednesday, an Indonesian Air Force Boeing 737 arrived in Kathmandu with four tons of humanitarian aid supplies, which also included a 60-member team to help the Nepalese and evacuate Indonesian citizens. Upon arrival, the team was welcomed by Indonesian Honorary Consul to Nepal Chandra Prasad Dhakal and one of his staff members, along with officials from the Nepal foreign ministry and military authorities. The aid supplies included medical equipment, tents, electricity generators, emergency hospital tents, and medical and logistical supplies, which were symbolically handed over to Nepalese military representatives. Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh Iwan Winataatmadja joined the delegation at Dhaka Airport in Bangladesh on Thursday morning. "The main mission of the team is evacuating Indonesian citizens and opening a command post to distribute Indonesian aid supplies," he noted. Based upon data from the Directorate of Citizen Protection and Legal Entities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are 95 Indonesian citizens in Nepal, of which 30 reside in Nepal and 65 are visitors.