Slovakia is sending humanitarian aid - tents and heating equipment - to earthquake-hit Kyrgyzstan in response to a request from the European Union, the Interior Ministry said on January 7. Other countries pledging assistance to the Central Asian country are fellow EU-member states including Sweden, Italy, Austria and Germany, along with the United Nations.
Strong earthquakes hit southern Kyrgyzstan on Boxing Day and New Year's Day, causing massive damage to houses and leaving thousands of people homeless amid freezing temperatures reaching as low as -20 degrees Celsius. Slovakia has agreed with Austria to transport the aid jointly from Vienna. The Slovak aid worth Sk5 million (€150,000) will be provided from the humanitarian aid reserves of the Slovak Interior Ministry's civil defense and crisis management section. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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