Pakistan to dispatch 100 tons of relief items, rescue team to flood-hit Sri Lanka today

• The death toll from heavy floods caused by Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka has risen to 132
• Forty-five member Urban Search and Rescue team to aid relief efforts in Sri Lanka 

KARACHI: Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will dispatch 100 tons of essential relief items and an urban search and rescue team (USAR) for the people of Sri Lanka as it grapples with deadly floods, state media reported on Sunday.

The death toll from heavy floods and mudslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka rose to 132, with 176 people still missing, Sri Lankan authorities said on Saturday.

Nearly 78,000 people have been displaced and are in temporary shelters, the South Asian country’s disaster management center said on Saturday. The death toll is expected to rise.

“The initial consignment, comprising one hundred tons of essential relief supplies will be dispatched today along with a 45-member Pakistan Army USAR team,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.

It said a relief package includes critical life-saving and support items such as rescue boats, dewatering pumps and life jackets.

The state media said Pakistan is also deploying a mobile field hospital to provide immediate medical care to those affected by the floods in Sri Lanka.

Pakistan Navy also announced on Saturday that it was taking part in relief operations in Sri Lanka.

Pakistan Navy said its ship, ‘Saif,’ currently on a port call at Colombo for participation in an international fleet review, is undertaking relief operations for the local populace.

“To support the affected communities, PNS Saif provided humanitarian relief supplies to Sri Lankan authorities to augment ongoing national relief efforts,” the navy’s spokesperson said in a statement.

“The aid package comprised food staples, Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), dry rations, first-aid kits, emergency medicines and essential equipment.”

Sri Lanka has been battered by severe weather since last week. Conditions worsened Thursday, with heavy downpours that flooded homes, fields and roads and triggered landslides mainly in the tea-growing central hill country. The government closed schools and offices and postponed examinations.

By Friday, water flowing downstream from severely affected areas began to inundate areas around the capital, Colombo, which experienced comparatively less rainfall.

Authorities say that Ditwah, which developed in the seas east of Sri Lanka, is likely to move toward India’s southern coast by Sunday.