Israel has sent more manpower than any other country to assist Nepal following last Friday’s magnitude-7.8 earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people in the country, a chart published by CNN has revealed.
According to the chart, Israel has sent more than 260 people to beleaguered Kathmandu since the last Friday. This is about 200 more people than the next country, Britain, which sent 68 people.
The chart was compiled from information provided by national governments, aid agencies and CNN.
China has sent 62 people, and the US offered 54 volunteers.
Over 250 doctors and rescue personnel were part of an Israel army delegation that landed Tuesday in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu. The Israeli group has set up a field hospital with 60 beds that began operations on Wednesday in coordination with the local army hospital.
Israel’s aid convoy to the quake-stricken nation is the largest ever sent by the IDF overseas. Israel has deployed field hospitals to Haiti, the Philippines and Japan in recent years following natural disasters.
On Wednesday, Nepali Prime Minister Sushil Koraila and the Nepali army chief of staff both visited the field hospital erected by Israeli disaster relief volunteers in Kathmandu, which included IDF officers.
The Prime Minister said that the country needs about half a million tents to provide shelter for the nearly half a million people who have been left stranded since the earthquake, which killed more than 5,000 people and destroyed thousands of buildings.