Saudi Arabia sends relief aid to Yemen's island of Socotra after Cyclone Mekunu

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre said that the plane was carrying food and other essential items

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A Saudi Arabian aircraft carrying relief aid on Sunday arrived on Yemen’s island of Socotra, which has been devastated by Cyclone Mekunu.

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief) said that the plane was carrying food and other essential items. A team from the centre had also been dispatched to supervise the distribution of the items.

"The aid was sent on the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the follow-up of HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to meet the needs of the brothers in Yemen due to Cyclone Mekunu," Dr Abdullah Al Rabeea, supervisor general of KSRelief, said in a statement carried by the Ministry of Culture and Information on Monday.

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“KSRelief rushed to help areas affected by the cyclone by preparing and providing tonnes of emergency humanitarian aid, including food supplies, medicines, blankets and clothes, to be distributed quickly to the island's inhabitants, who are in dire need of aid, and to mitigate the impact of the cyclone.”

He added that other planes carrying relief aid will be headed to the island.

Meanwhile, KSRelief said that on Sunday it also provided food to the city of Hof in the remote Al Mahra Governorate in south-east Yemen, where 1,800 have been affected by the cyclone.

“This intervention comes in an emergency and swift mode to alleviate the suffering of the people of the city who were affected by the cyclone and suffer greatly from a lack of these supplies,” KSRelief said.