His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has ordered an emergency aid flight to be sent to Beirut following yesterday’s deadly blast.

A 747 jumbo jet will take off from Dubai today carrying approximately 30 tons of aid relief, including trauma kits, surgical supplies and personal protection equipment (PPE), provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC), from their stocks at International Humanitarian City in Dubai.

“His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Ruler of Dubai, ordered the aid to be sent immediately on his personal aircraft in response to the devastating blasts which rocked Beirut yesterday.” added H.E Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, the Chairman of the Supreme Committee for the Supervision of IHC.

Robert Blanchard from WHO’s logistics hub in Dubai said: “WHO is dispatching trauma kits containing emergency medical supplies enough to treat 500 injured people and surgical kits containing supplies to treat 500 people requiring surgical care”. He added: “Within the coming hours, with generous and rapid support from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, WHO’s logistics hub located within the International Humanitarian City in Dubai, will deploy critically needed and life-saving supplies to health care facilities in Beirut. We thank the government of the United Arab Emirates who are a key WHO partner in global health emergency response.”

Thierry Balloy, IFRC’s Director of Supply Chain Management, said: “This PPE equipment will help Lebanese Red Cross volunteers and staff provide safe support to some 5,000 survivors of the Beirut Port disaster. So many people have been affected by the explosion and it’s vital that these skilled medical teams can do their life-saving work in a way that prevents the spread of the novel coronavirus.”

He added: “The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has dispatched nearly 70 cubic metres of Personal Protection Equipment worth 378,596 US dollars from its Global Logistics Hub in Dubai, with support from His Highness Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, the Ruler of Dubai.”