Moscow, Aug 19 (Agency) The European Union has boosted humanitarian support to Haiti, recently hit by a massive earthquake, by sending additional experts and equipment, the European Commission said on Thursday. On Tuesday, Brussels announced an allocation of 3 million euros ($3.5 million) of humanitarian aid to help the Caribbean nation cope with the aftermath of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake, which struck on August 14.
“In addition to the funds released this week for immediate aid relief, the deployment of EU trained experts, medical equipment and other emergency items will provide further relief to Haiti and help intervene where it is most needed. I thank the EU Member States who have promptly offered their help via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism,” Janez Lenarcic, Commissioner for Crisis Management, was quoted as saying in a statement. According to the statement, the bloc deployed a group of twelve experts, as well as Emergency Response Coordination Centre Liaison Officers to coordinate the EU aid efforts on the ground. In addition, Sweden sent some shelter tents and an expert group, France allocated a water purification module, and Spain gave a water treatment plant, as well as medical equipment and medicines, according to the Commission.
The death toll of the victims of the earthquake in Haiti exceeded 2,000 people, according to the latest data, while thousands of others were also affected by the calamity to different degrees of severity.