DUBAI, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has sent a plane to airlift core relief items to communities affected by a devastating landslide in Sierra Leone, UAE state news agency WAM reported Saturday.
An Airbus A330 plane, which carried around 50 tons of humanitarian aid including blankets, hygiene and kitchen kits, mosquito nets and tarpaulins, took off from Dubai's Al-Maktoum International Airport for Sierra Leone.
The aid supplies will cover around 5,000 people affected by the natural disaster in the West African country.
In mid-August, a massive mudslide after three days of heavy rains swept through homes in and around Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, leaving more than 1,000 people killed and 3,000 others homeless, WAM said.
Returning from a field mission to Sierra Leone, Jagan Chapagain, the under secretary-general for programs and operations of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, described the situation of many survivors there as "desperate."
"They are struggling to rebuild their lives and critical humanitarian support is still needed," WAM quoted Chapagain as saying.
