Bangladesh Navy’s ship leaves for Sri Lanka with more aid for flood victims

Bangladesh Navy’s ‘BNS Bangabandhu’ has left for Colombo with another 105 tonnes of relief for flood and landslide victims in Sri Lanka.

The ship left the Navy’s Issa Khan Base in Chittagong on Tuesday afternoon, bdnews24.com has reported.

The items include lifesaving drugs, water purifying machines, pure drinking water, tents, food items and generators.

The ship is scheduled to arrive at the Port of Colombo today (June 5) and will stay there for three days joining in the relief efforts. It is scheduled to return to Chittagong on Jun 11.Following directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh first extended emergency humanitarian support to Sri Lanka last week responding to their call for aid to the international community.

Before ‘BNS Bangabandhu’ left, Commander of Chittagong Naval Area Rear Admiral Akhtar Habib at a press briefing at Issa Khan Base said a special Bangladesh Air Force aircraft had taken relief items to Sri Lanka on May 27.

Habib said, “We have many limitations. But we never back off from helping others suffering from calamities. We’ll stand beside Sri Lanka in recovering from their losses.”

Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Dhaka Yasoja Gunasekara thanked Prime Minister Hasina for sending the aid for flood-affected Sri Lankans. Bangladesh was also battered by cyclone Roanu.