ISLAMABAD, Dec 29: Renowned social worker Abdul Sattar Edhi said on Wednesday he was sending a 20-member rescue team along with relief goods, including clothes and medicine, to tsunami-hit Sri Lanka.
"I will be sending clothes, medicines and other items worth Rs10 million (about 170,000 dollars) to Sri Lanka, and may send more as required," Edhi, who runs the private Edhi Welfare Trust, told AFP.
He said a 20-member rescue team headed by his son Faisal would be leaving for Colombo on Friday with 10 boats and 100,000 metres of cloth to provide shrouds for the bodies awaiting burial.
More than 22,000 people were killed by the tidal waves in Sri Lanka. "The team will assess the requirements and we will do everything to help the victims of the disaster," he said, adding that the Edhi Trust was also ready to help other countries but so far no requests had been made.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz announced on Monday a relief package of 10 million rupees for Sri Lanka and an army plane carrying relief goods flew to the island the same day.
"We are considering to send more aid and participate in relief efforts in quake-hit Asian countries," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid told AFP. The number of people killed in the massive earthquake and tidal waves that struck Indian Ocean shorelines at the weekend passed 71,000 on Wednesday.
